Battle of the Mind
by horseg27
Summary: TFP – Violetwind has accepted that she will never be 'normal' and has adjusted to living her life with her inner counterpart and Team Prime. Things seemed to be fine, but when the purple femme starts acting a little strangely, will the others be able to figure out what is wrong in time to save her from herself? Sequel to The Voice Within.
1. Chapter 1

So Violetwind is back with a sequel! Yay!  
>We are picking up pretty much where <em>The Voice Within<em> left off, which was after the episode of TF Prime, _Rebellion_.

And as such it contains major spoilers for the previous story. This is a sequel so the first one's pretty important to it! So seriously, go read it already if you haven't done so. Like right now. Go, go on! _Read it_!

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Right so everyone still here's read the first one? Good. What? You haven't? Well fine, it's only spoilers, it'll still make sense I suppose. Let us proceed. Enjoy guys!

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><p>Chapter 1<p>

It was an ordinary day at the military base for the personnel. Or as ordinary as it was going to get after some giant alien robots had moved into one of the hangers. The men and women went about their usual business, but most still curiously glanced in the robots' direction, more so when they were within sight, like the two sitting outside the hanger at that very moment. One was a white mech sporting blue armour on his front as well as blue trim along his arms and red framing his helm and on the lower tips of his shoulder plating. The other was a femme with dark purple armour and bright blue accents like on her centre helm spike and at her wrists.

"I'm thankful Agent Fowler allowed us to use this hanger for our new base."

The mech chuckled, "_I'm_ sure Fowler's happy to be able to keep a closer eye on us."

Laughing lightly, the femme shook her head. "Fowler's not that bad and you know it, Smoke."

"Haha, perhaps but I wouldn't put it past him."

The pair grew silent, a calm air about them. It was nice just to relax after everything they had been through recently. It was amazing to think that barely a week had passed since they went to Cybertron and confronted Megatron. The tyrant had tried to use the Omega Lock to cyberform Earth. The drama afterwards had seemingly spiralled out of control as Autobot Outpost Omega One was destroyed and they were forced to go on the run. Optimus and Smokescreen had been presumed dead and the Autobots had faced Darkmout alone, almost not making it out alive. The tides turned, however, when Optimus arrived with an upgraded body and took down Megatron and Darkmount's fusion cannons. With the Decepticon's threat over Earth abolished, Agent Fowler brought in the air force to destroyed the citadel.

Since then Fowler gave them a hanger on the military base to use. He also provided a vehicle for Optimus to scan, to better suit his new body. It was based on a new experimental all terrain fighting vehicle that human engineers had developed.

On top of all that had transpired with the Decepticons, Violetwind had been dealing with her own struggles. The voice she had heard in her head had not been the results of mental illness but instead was the voice of the actual femme Violetwind. The femme conversing with Smokescreen, used to be a human before her mind was transferred into her current shared body. Nothing could be done to separate them, and so they were stuck in the the one body; the original owner, now referred to Windy as the human woman took on the identity of Violetwind. The Autobots all knew of course but the sensitive information had to be kept from the Decepticons lest they try to exploit the knowledge of how she came to be this way.

"Hey, so, Vi?" Smokescreen was pondering her mental situation.

"Yeah?"

"How weird is it know Windy is able to listen in on your thoughts? Like, you can't keep anything private? No thoughts to yourself?"

The ex-human, considered it for a moment but ultimately shook her head. "Not really. She just sort of is, you know."

_You're just saying I exist, is that it?_ Windy's tone became a mock whine, _Don't I mean anything to you any more?_

She smirked, ignoring her inner companion for the moment. "I haven't really needed to nor would I really want to keep anything from her. There's be nothing to gain by hiding anything."

_Slag, yeah. You'd better believe it. _

Turning to her, the mech leaned against the building with his elbow, "What's she like then? Not too boring is she?"

_Boring? What?! How dare the young fragger call me that!_

Violetwind chuckled, "No, boring would _not_ be something to describe her, at all. I have to say though, she is _very_ different to me." Tapping her chin with her finger she tried to come up with a way to describe her friend, "Windy is... Well, she swears a lot. And, is very opinionated and she's certainly got a strong personality. Uh, more like Miko, I guess, but without the constant questions."

"Haha, oh boy," he laughed, "I can't imagine what it might be like having a Miko in my head."

Laughing along with him she replied, "At least it would be easier to keep track of her. No more running off into danger."

_Hey, I'm not that bad! _

The mech laughed harder, "She would! But only if you could handle her being constantly in your ear!"

Their laughter continued for a short while before a sharp growl broke in, causing immediate silence between them. "Violetwind! I want you to help me with with setting up our equipment."

The femme looked up at the medic, the sun glinting off his orange and white armour. "Ok, Ratchet."

Nodding he grunted and headed off back inside.

"I guess duty calls," she told her companion with an apologetic smile.

Smokescreen nodded, glancing after the mech, "Wish he'd lighten up a bit though."

"I think we're lucky to have gotten this much time off," she replied rising to her pedes.

"True," the mech got up as well, grinning, "Just don't let him get your mood down."

"No worries, if he starts to do that, I'm sure Windy will give me a little something to smile at," she waved at him before heading inside.

_I'm not sure I will. You deserve the silent treatment for saying I'm like Miko. _

_Aww come on, don't be such a sourpuss._

_Humph. _

_You can't not talk to me, you know. You've got to help with the tech stuff too. You know more than I do._

_Perhaps you should have thought of that before you insulted me._

Entering the hanger, the femme scoffed lightly._ It's not that bad. _

Windy did not reply again, deciding to remain silent, earning a good natured roll of the femme's optics.

"Hey, Vi, come check out our new place! Isn't it great?" Miko called over.

The young humans had set up an area for themselves on a raised platform much like at the old base. This one was larger though, sporting a two seater and a three seater couch, a TV plus a table where Rafael currently sat with his laptop. Jack was just inserting the last plug into the TV, while Miko was staked out on a couch.

"So whadya think?" The girl asked as the purple femme stood next to the platform looking it over.

"I think I'm a little jealous," she admitted earning smiles from the humans.

Jack stepped away from the TV and turned to her. "It's our home away from home and looking better than the old base."

"Violetwind!" snapped Ratchet growing impatient with her dawdling.

"Um, I guess, I'm needed. Later, guys," she quickly excused herself and made her way over to the medic's side. "Sorry, Ratchet."

He merely grunted and began talking about the job at hand, "Since you're going to be remaining at the base with me during missions I want you to be familiar with everything. You should know how it all works so that you'll be able to repair it if need be. I could also use a medical assistant, if you're up for learning that too."

It felt a little overwhelming but she nodded, "Ok, Ratchet. I don't know how useful I'll be but I'll try."

"Let's get started." The mech explained each part they worked on as they started assembling a new ground bridge using parts retrieved from the Decepticion warship the _Harbinger_.

While they worked, Ratchet glanced over at the femme, his gaze the softest it had been since starting on their project. "Violetwind, I would like to keep checking your processor. To continue monitoring your condition."

_No._

Not taking her optics off her task she replied, "I don't think that's necessary, Ratchet. I mean, we know what was odd now. So there's no need to keep that up, right?."

Putting down his tools, the medic turned his full attention to her. "I am still concerned for your health. We don't know what this sort of thing is like. We don't know the full extent of the trauma it might cause."

_No. Be firm. It's a no. It's untested and shall stay that way. _

With a sigh, the femme stopped working, letting her arms lower. "Look, Ratchet. I'd rather not have too much of it documented either. You know how devastating it could be if anyone got their hands on this kind of stuff. Besides, I'm fine. Windy's fine. Everything's working." She smiled pleasantly up at him. "And I'll be sure to let you know if something goes amiss."

As she went back to her work, Ratchet frowned, still not convinced. "But just let me do at least one."

"No," she replied firmly. "The answer is still no."

The medic did not press any further, knowing it was not currently getting him anywhere. Though, he was not about to give up on the matter entirely. He knew that it would be best to keep an optic on things. Hopefully, with time, she would relent and allow him to perform a scan, barring that he considered finding another way.

They did not speak of it further as they worked, exchanging words only when necessary. The building process took the rest of the day and well into he night but by morning they had created a – hopefully working – ground bridge; set up on the far side of the hanger, close to Ratchet's workstation.

It was here, with tools still in her hands, Violetwind sat slumped against the bench in recharge. The medic had decided to leave her be, after noticing that she had nodded off in the early hours of the morning just before the sun tried to peek out from behind the horizon.

Optimus wandered over to the medic, speaking quietly, "How soon before our ground bridge is fully operational?"

Ratchet looked up at him, "Not long. Once Rafael is ready we shall prepare for a test run."

"And?" The leader turned his gaze to the sleeping femme.

Following the mech's optics, he let out a small vent of air, a slight smile slipping onto his face. "She's learning quickly. It wore her out working so long, I think. Figured I'd let her rest and finish myself."

"A wise decision. Something perhaps you should consider for yourself," Prime suggested, showing concern over the old medic.

Quickly brushing him off, Ratchet replied, "I'll be fine, Optimus. Wouldn't still be around if I couldn't handle going without a bit of recharge."

"Just make certain you do not over exert yourself, old friend."

The mech did not reply, remaining silent in thought. When he did speak, his voice was laced with worry. "Optimus, she won't let me check her processor. It's such an untested science. I fear it may end up doing them harm."

Letting out a deep groan, he knew Ratchet was concerned about Violetwind's double mind but he also knew not much could be done if it went against her will. "If she does not wish it, I do not believe you could force it upon her. Perhaps, just give her some time. She may come around."

"And if she doesn't?"

"We hope that nothing develops..."

The pair fell into silence hoping that no harm would come the purple femme who had found herself a part of their team and a part of their sparks.

However the quiet moment was interrupted by a small voice calling out from behind the pair. "Hey, Ratchet! I'm ready to test out the ground bridge when you are."

"Ah, Raf, good. Let's get stated then, shall we?"

The boy stood on the raised platform, looking up expectantly at the bots, a remote control car in his hands. He hoped their test would end in success. Getting the ground bridge up and running was necessary if they were to effectively combat any trouble the Decepticons might cause.

Reaching out his hand, Optimus offered it to Rafael for the boy to climb on. He quickly did so, planting himself carefully so as to not fall over. Walking over to the ground bridge, the mech made slow deliberate movements so as to not jostle the boy too much. Slowly he lowered him and the remote controlled car down so they could test the device.

Placing the car down so that it was facing the right direction, the boy readjusted his glasses before calling out to the medic. "Alright, Ratchet. Let's do it."

With a nod in reply, he set the coordinates and opened the vortex. Just as they had hoped the familiar glowing green and blue tunnel appeared but they were only half done. Next they had to make sure it was safe for travel.

Driving the small car forward, Raf aimed for the new ground bridge. If the small vehicle made it through they would be able to detect it using the global positioning system they installed accompanying the long range control.

They waited with baited breath, attentions focused on the small vehicle as it drove into the vortex and disappeared into the tunnel without fault.

After a few moments of tense silence Ratchet declared, "Sensors have successfully picked it up on the other side of the globe! It works! Bring it back, Raf!"

"Yes!" The boy cheered with a fist pump. Happily he put the remote controlled car into reverse and it soon re-emerged from the ground bridge, undamaged.

The slight commotion had roused Violetwind from her nap. Blinking open her optics, she groaned as she slowly sat up, "What's going on?"

"I believe congratulations are in order. You have performed admirably, Ratchet, Violetwind and also Rafael, for assisting," Optimus praised warmly.

The femme perked up, grinning happily. "The ground bridge works?"

"It does," the mech confirmed.

"Ratchet, the ground bridge works! I helped build a ground bridge!"

Amused by her excitement, the medic smiled. "I noticed. You did well for your first time."

While the others went about packing up Windy spoke, _Hey, now that we've got a ground bridge perhaps we could use Ultra Magnus' ship._

_What for?_ she absent-mindedly questioned, still focused on how she had helped build something.

_Well, I was thinking that we could go and fetch Elite One and the other femmes from the planet I left them on. We could do with some extra fighters and they're some of the best. I'm sure it would be great to add to our numbers. _

_Hey, that would be good. _

_So how about it? You gonna speak to Optimus?_

_Sure, why not, I guess? Couldn't hurt right? _

Optimus had already walked off and was currently talking with Ultra Magnus and Wheeljack. "With the ground bridge currently functional I would like you to scour the remains of our previous base. Be mindful of anything that may prove useful."

"Yes, Optimus," the officer replied respectfully.

"We'll make sure we don't leave any stone unturned," added the Wrecker with a smirk.

"Good. Ratchet," turning to the medic Prime called out, "please set the ground bridge coordinates."

With a nod, he entered the desired numbers into the console and started up the swirling tunnel.

The pair left and Violetwind took her chance to talk with their leader. Approaching him, she called out softly, "Uh, Optimus?"

Turning to her, he acknowledged the femme. "Yes, Violetwind? Was there something you desired to discuss with me?"

"Actually there was. You see, well, Windy brought up the idea of using Ultra Magnus' ship to go and fetch Elita One and the rest of the team. Since, you know, we have the ground bridge to quickly get around Earth now."

Watching his reaction she saw something happen behind his optics. She noticed spark clenching fear, not something the femme ever thought she would see from the Prime. It was hidden well but it was there nonetheless and it confused her. Surely a trip across space was not _that_ hazardous, after all, Ultra Magnus and Windy had done it to get there.

"No." Optimus responded simply, not offering any kind of explanation.

"But-"

"No," he repeated firmly, turning away from her and walking off, leaving her in a state of confusion.

_Why fragging not?! _

Letting out a gasp of shock, Violetwind gathered up her senses and followed after him. "Optimus, I don't understand. Wouldn't it be beneficial if we had more Bots? I know it would probably get a little crowded in here but I'm sure we could manage."

Heaving a deep sigh the mech paused, his shoulders slumped ever so slightly. "I... I do not believe our energon supplies would support an increase to our numbers."

_Slag that, tell him that we could fill the ship with whatever the team has collected. That planet had energon deposits and the gals would have collected plenty!_

"But Optimus that wouldn't be a problem. Windy says there was energon there too and we could bring it back with us. Might even _help _our energon supply if we could bring a lot back."

Sighing again, he looked over at the femme. He had not wished to divulge the real reason behind the lack of action to fetch the others but Violetwind was proving persistent. Then again he supposed he was up against two stubborn femmes when it came to her. Glancing over at the other Bots, he made sure none were within hearing distance before speaking, "I do not wish to bring them here and get them involved in more fighting. You have said before they are safe where they reside and I desire for it to remain that way."

_Ah, I see. _

"I don't."

The mech looked at her curiously as she responded verbally to Windy. "You do not what?"

"I apparently don't see what Windy does. And I don't get why you wouldn't want more help fighting the Cons."

Optimus closed his optics, taking in a deep vent of air. Letting it out slowly, he looked down at her once again. "There are simply moments when a leader must make... certain... decisions."

Her face scrunched up in confusion. "But what has that got to do with adding to our ranks?"

_Vi, drop it._

"But-," she whined softly, "humph." The femme clenched her fists in slight frustration but did not press the matter further.

The mech gazed upon her with sad optics. "Please, Violetwind. Let the questions rest, do not speak of them again. I ask that you do not mention this to the others."

Although she did not like it, she nodded. "Yes, Optimus."

As their conversation came to a close, Agent Fowler exited his office. Standing on the raised walkway he yelled out, "We've gotten reports of possible Decepticon activity."

Optimus was quick to step up and claim the job for himself. "I shall investigate."

"I'll come with you," Bulkhead offered as he walked over to join him.

"No, I shall go alone."

The green mech was surprised by the flat out refusal, trying again "You sure? It's not like it'll be any trouble."

"I am certain. I shall be able to search the area effectively on my own with the use of flight."

"Ok then," the mech nodded, not about to ask again if Optimus did not want him there.

Gathering the coordinates from Agent Fowler, the Autobot leader left the base in search of his quarry.

Staring after the mech, Arcee wondered out loud, "What's up with him?"

"I donno." Bulkhead glanced over at Violetwind, "What where you guys talking about anyway? Did something upset him?"

The femme looked in the green mech's direction before glancing after Optimus briefly and then returning her gaze to the mech. He had asked her not to talk about it so she would respect him in that. "Uh, nothing much." She pointed over at Ratchet's work bench, "Well, if you excuse me, I've got stuff to do."

With that the femme quickly scurried off, delving into her work and leaving the Bots to themselves.

Arcee folded her arms, muttering sarcastically, "Well they're not hiding anything."

Approaching them Bumblebee beeped, _'If it was something we needed to know they would have told us. Probably best just to leave it alone.' _

"You're right, Bee. No point going after it. Let's see if the kids wanna play some games," Bulkhead waved a hand and started to wander over to the human youth, the scout behind trailing him chirping excitedly able being able to beat anyone who tried to come up against him.

The blue femme remained silent not following her companions. Instead she pondered what might have set the usually calm leader off.

Having dodged the questions directed at her conversation with Optimus, Violetwind pretended to vigorously work on fixing a small piece of machinery. It was not until she was sure they were no longer paying any attention to her that she breathed a sigh of relief and slowed down to actually pay attention to what she was doing. As she started to properly work on fixing the small device, which happened to be a spare component for the ground bridge, the femme silently questioned her inner self.

_So, you noticed something there that I didn't, right? What w__s it?__a_

_It's not that complicated. Gossip about it went round during the war but it wasn't really something that I paid much to at the time. Wasn't interested in that sort of thing._

_What? _

_Oh right. Well the rumour was that Optimus and Elita One had feelings for one other. That perhaps they might even become sparkmates. _

_What's a sparkmate?_ she asked, confused by the term.

_Ah right. You wouldn't know about this. Well you see, it's sort of like human marriages. Only it's much deeper than just getting paired up. Sparkmates are joined for life through the bonding of their very sparks. It's like the merging of two souls. It's said to be a wonderful thing to find your life partner. They can practically read each other's emotions even when they're not in the same place. _

_Wow. That does sound great. So... so Optimus and Elita were dating then?_

_I don't believe it was anything official, but yeah. _

_Why doesn't he want to just bring her back here then? I would have thought he would love to see her again if he does have feelings for her. _

_Perhaps if he were anyone else, maybe, but he's Optimus Prime. This war rests on his shoulders. He can't let feelings get in the way of his judgement. And I don't think he wants to risk her getting hurt. If it's true that he does care for that much, he couldn't risk it. _

Violetwind let out a small whine of sadness for the mech. _It would suck to have to be like that. _

_Yeah, it would..._

~oOo~

Soaring high above the land, floating in the skies, Optimus headed for the coordinates of the possible Decepticon activity. It was suspected to be drilling activity, hopefully an energon deposit they could claim from their enemies. However, his current goal was not what plagued the leader's mind.

His thoughts revolved around the conversation he had with Violetwind. The femme had meant well and he knew that but... It had affected him more than he would have thought possible. Just the mention of her name had brought back memories and stirred up long forgotten feelings. Their last goodbye had been so brief, cut short by the necessity to flee their dying planet amongst the battle. His spark had been torn at the time, only wanting to hold her close forever and yet knowing he had to lead his troops in the escape.

Even now, the ache in his spark would not let up. However, Optimus knew he could not bring her here. To him, loving her meant more than just wanting to be with her. It meant wanting to do anything he could to protect her. He would give his life to know that she was safe.

"Elita One..." he murmured to himself, despite no one being around to hear him, "Forgive me for waiting and not coming to find you. But I could not drag you back into this war. And I will never again allow Megatron to use you in order to get to me."

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><p>Hope you enjoyed it!<br>I've added a link in my profile to a picture I did of when Vi fell asleep while she was working if you wanted to check that out. I had to do something for it, the scene amused me.


	2. Chapter 2

Big thanks to those people already showing interest in this story!

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><p>Chapter 2<p>

Later that day Ultra Magnus called in from the wreck of their old base. **::**We have thoroughly searched the remains and are ready to return.**::**

"Opening up a ground bridge for you now," the medic replied, pressing a few keys on his control panel.

Hearing that the two mechs would be returning from their old base, four Bot's heads perked up from their various tasks to amuse themselves. Violetwind got up from where she had been leaning against the back wall playing with a piece of cord trying to work out how to make 'Jacob's ladder' with a 'cat's cradle' string and the help of Windy from her memories. Bulkhead had been getting in some recharge in vehicle mode, transforming as he awoke to wander closer, interested in seeing what Ultra Magnus and Wheeljack might have brought back, though still a little groggy. Bumblebee and Arcee put a halt to their light sparring session to take a few steps towards where the ground bridge was about to open. The only bot unaccounted for, other than Optimus, was Smokescreen. He seemed to have vanished, though no one seemed to particularly miss his absence except for the purple femme.

The humans were just as interested as the Bots. Jack and Miko stood atop one of the walkways along the side of the building. From there they could easily see the vortex as Ratchet opened it up. Rafael was sitting with his laptop, monitoring the technology for any discrepancies in their newly constructed ground bridge.

The younger human nodded to himself as things were going well. Turing to the medic he yelled over, "Return trajectory fluctuations have been stabilised."

Acknowledging this Ratchet called into the comm, "Ultra Magnus, we are ready to receive you."

In response the truck himself rolled through the vortex. On his back he carried a single energon cube. Walking up, Bumblebee picked up the cube to add to their meagre supply. Now free from his burden, the mech transformed immediately reporting, "We didn't find much else in the rubble of the former base."

Walking through behind him, Wheeljack held up a large metal ball with blue Cybertronian markings on it. "You call this, not much else?"

Twirling the ball momentarily on his finger, the mech let it rest in his hands only long enough to aim at his target: Bulkhead. Wheeljack pelted the lobbing ball at his fellow Wrecker. Unfortunately still slightly asleep the green mech's reaction time was not fast enough and the ball bounced off his chest plates, headed straight for Miko and Jack.

Seeing the giant ball coming their way at an alarming rate, the boy quickly threw himself and Miko to the side. They escaped its path just before it smashed into the wall behind where they had been standing. Unfortunately that wall also happened to contain the door to Agent Fowler's office.

Ratchet's optics lit up with fury. "Wheeljack!" he practically roared, "You could have caused serious damage!"

Getting up from where Jack had pushed her down, Miko angrily placed her hands on her hips to glare at the mech and, in a way, continued Ratchet's yell, "Ta me!"

From behind the ball and the smashed door they heard the liaison mutter, "What in the Sam hill?" It was not a few moments later that he opened the broken door to stare straight at the large obstruction. "A little help here?"

Nobody moved to help the man though. Jack and Miko merely glanced at each other, the girl shrugging her shoulders. The ball was bigger than them, neither would be able to shift it. And seeing as no other Bot was going to, Violetwind walked over, the cord still stuck in the joints of her right hand.

"What were you thinking, soldier?" growled Ultra Magnus at the mech who had been the cause of the trouble.

Wheeljack gestured to Bulkhead, replying with a grin. "I was thinking Bulk would catch that lob."

As Violetwind removed the obstruction from Fowler's office, the commander went on to scold the white mech. "Allow me to make myself clear. As Optimus Prime's second in command, I have no intention of tolerating Wrecker behaviour."

Rolling his optics Wheeljack grunted, "Some things never change."

By now the purple femme had the lobbing ball in her hands and had turned back to watch the confrontation in silence like everyone else in the room. For once, Fowler wisely let the Bots settle it for themselves.

Only Bulkhead was willing to possibly get involved, speaking to his friend in a warning tone, "Jacky..."

Ultra Magnus continued his rant towards the mech, "Need I remind you that it was Optimus Prime himself who assigned me to command you Wreckers back on Cybertron and get you loose canons under control. An effective combat unit begins with discipline. If you won't accept that, feel free to choose the path of least resistance, as you did before."

Looking back up at him with defiance Wheeljack replied sharply, "If my ship weren't a twisted wreck at present, I'd do that, _Sir_." Done with being told off, the mech walked away, leaving the hanger.

The commander let out a small groan before turning to Ratchet. "Where is Optimus?"

"He's investigating recent Decepticon activity. Hopefully an energon mine," the medic replied.

With a nod, Ultra Magnus moved on, busying himself with another task. While the orange and white bot took one of the small machines to work on to make use of his time.

Over by the side, Violetwind was still carrying the lobbing ball. She tilted her head curiously as she looked upon it. Unlike the human toys it was quite large, being about the size if her chest, and because of that was also quite heavy. Experimentally she gave it a little toss upwards but it barely left her hands.

_Did you ever play this 'lobbing'?_ she questioned.

_Not really. Never had much time for that sort of thing. _

The femme silently wondered what the game was like to play as Miko and her guardian talked with Ratchet about the Forge of Solus Prime and how useful it might have been if its power had not been depleted. Before Violetwind had a chance to interrupt them and ask about the game, there was the roar of a revving engine outside drawing the eyes and optics of those in the hanger.

Driving through the hanger doors came a blue car with white and yellow stripes down it and number 7's on the doors. It swerved, spinning a few times before coming to stop in front of where Miko, Bulkhead and Arcee were standing.

Staring down at the vehicle, the blue femme muttered with a little surprise, "Smokescreen?"

Putting the ball down, Violetwind quickly joined them as the mech transformed. It was then she noticed the cord still stuck in her fingers and with some embarrassment, frantically tried to remove it while the others were focused on the rookie. After unsuccessfully tugging for a moment, she flung her hand about to loosen it. The string chose that moment to break free and was cast across the room. Turning away, she nonchalantly joined the others, acting like nothing had happened.

"Aww, what gave me away?" the mech whined as he transformed.

He was only met with a raised optic ridge from Arcee.

Shrugging his shoulders he grinned, "Robots in disguise, right?"

Having also walked over, Ultra Magnus looked down sternly at the young mech. "Where've you been, soldier?"

Not losing his grin, he answered, "Scanning new war paint."

"So that's where you've been all morning?" Violetwind looked with interest at his new colours not sure if she liked them that much. There had been something nice about his old ones, yet the blue suited him.

The commander glanced her way to give her a stern look for interrupting. Catching his optic, the femme shrunk back, door wings bending downward feeling nervous under his gaze. She could swear he had a look that could rival Megatron's sometimes.

Before the tall mech could get in a word, however, Smokescreen nodded at her and continued, "Thought it'd be proactive to follow Optimus' lead. And Bumblebee's." He gestured over to the scout as he placed the energon cube over in the corner.

_'Well, you're new look suits you.'_ he chirped.

Ultra Magnus was not impressed however. "Now you can look your best while stacking those empty crates."

Looking over at the empty energon containers, his face fell and door wings drooped a little. Obediently he muttered, "Yes, Sir." Stalking off, he muttered something unintelligible under his breath.

"What was that about a Prime?" questioned Ratchet, having caught a little of the rookie's mumble.

Immediately turning back to the medic he nervously corrected, "Uh, no. Time. Time to stop acting like a rookie."

He proceeded to do as the commander asked, collecting the empty energon crates and slowly stacking them neatly atop one another. Seeing his lack of enthusiasm and thinking he might like a bit of cheering up, Violetwind decided she would go and talk to him. As she started over she caught word of Arcee and Ratchet discussing the mech and curiosity got he better of her. So of course, she momentarily delayed her quest in order to listen in.

"Smokescreen was the only one who went back. It it weren't for him..." the blue femme's gaze dropped to the floor disheartened at the thought she brought up, "Optimus might not be with us today..."

Ratchet looked up from the object he was tinkering with to send a somewhat comforting glance her way. "Arcee, we were under the strictest of orders. The three of you had your human partners to protect."

The eavesdropping femme nodded her head in silent agreement.

With a soft sigh, the medic continued, "Even I... Even I was not alone." Ratchet regretted the way things had gone, not believing Violetwind as he should, but it was not the focus of their conversation so he let it be. "But, we are fortunate that Smokescreen is inexperienced enough to not have followed protocol."

"Yes, we are..." Arcee agreed.

"Violet?" a voice came from behind the femme.

Whirling around in embarrassment, her optics fell on the voice's owner, Rafael. The youth stood on the walkway and looked up at her with his head tilted but did not say a word.

"Hi, Raf," she said, perhaps a little too cheerily. "Um, so what are you up to?"

Lifting up the laptop charger in his hands, he answered, "Just fetching this. I need to have power to continue removing pictures of you guys from the internet. What were you doing?"

"I..." Violetwind realised she could not lie to the boy, it did not feel right. It was not like he was accusing her of anything anyway, even though perhaps he should have. She knew Miko would. So with a small sight the femme quietly admitted, "I was, kinda listening in to Arcee and Ratchet."

The boy smiled in amusement, adjusting his glasses. "I thought so. You weren't doing a very good job at hiding it."

Letting out a groan, her door wings slumped in defeat. "Well, seems like I have great eavesdropping skills then."

_Haha, you don't say,_ Windy laughed.

_Not helping. _

Chuckling softly, Rafael shook his head. "I suggest busying yourself with something next time so it's not so obvious."

"Thanks, Raf," she smiled at him gratefully. "You're a champ. I'll let you get on with keeping our faces from the public eye."

With a grin, he waved his free hand. "Bye, Violet."

Giving a small wave in reply, she turned and headed over to where Smokescreen was finishing up with the boxes. He was just placing the last one neatly onto the stack when she reached him.

A little unsure of what to say she went with the first thing that came to mind. "Um, hey, don't let Ultra Magnus get you down."

Glancing over at her, he grunted, "Yeah, I know." Resting a hand on the crate he rubbed his finger over the top, staring at it like it was the most important thing in the world. "Do you ever wonder what it might have been like if something had gone differently?"

She vented, the small noise noise something akin to a human snort and rolled her optics. "All the time." Stepping closer to stand in front of him, her gaze was soft, "But, you know, sometimes things turn out for the better anyway. And don't ever undervalue yourself, Smokescreen. I know that despite how things seem, the others appreciate what you do."

He looked to her, "Really?"

"Really," she affirmed with a nod. "Optimus owes you his life and for that we all owe you. We certainly wouldn't be here right now otherwise," the femme gestured to the hanger. "You helped make this possible, so no moping."

Smokescreen smirked, a teasing light in his optics, "You're right. When did you get so smart anyway? Is Windy telling you the secrets to the universe?"

She scoffed in mock offence. "Do you think I need her for everything?"

_Well I am pretty useful,_ she interrupted proudly. _I don't know what you'd do without me._

The mech laughed, countering, "How do I know you don't?"

"I-" she tried to reply but she could not come up with a good comeback. It did not help that Windy was now snickering away in the back of her mind.

Her stunted reply, only made the mech laugh harder. Now pouting, Violetwind clenched her fists in frustration. "Hey, that's not fair, stop it!"

"Lighten up, Vi. I'm only teasing."

She continued to frown at him, still not pleased with being laughed at.

Seeing as she was still being stern about it, he let a lopsided smirk slide onto his face. "Chill, would ya. Don't make me force you to smile. You know I will."

Violetwind rolled her optics and folded her arms, looking at him with an expression that dare him to try. "As if you could."

"Challenge accepted. Let's see if we can't get a smile on that face." Stepping forward the mech poked at her side, causing her to flinch away, hand automatically moving to protect the spot.

"Hey," she muttered in protest.

Still grinning, he reached out and poked her again. Sneaking through her defences, he poked a finger at her stomach plating. It earned his hand a slap as she backed away, a tiny grin trying to peak out on her face.

"Almost had ya," he taunted, hand darting forward again.

This time she let out a light squeal and smiled as she tried to resist him. "Smoke, stop that."

"Ha, there we go. We got a hint of a smile there," he declared proudly.

Wiping the happy expression off her face, Violetwind narrowed her optics in a glare, trying to be more serious. This only served to amuse the mech further as he let out a chuckle. Stepping towards her once more, he swiftly poked at her stomach plates.

The femme giggled despite doing her best not to find amusement in the action, but his silly, playful behaviour was making it hard not to laugh. "I said stop that."

Smokecreen was not about to listen though. His optics danced with a teasing light, as he darted forward, fingers outstretched. However, this time she was ready for him. Quickly sweeping his hands to the side with one arm, she used the other to give him a mighty shove. Unprepared, the mech fell backward, tumbling into the empty energon crates with an almighty crash.

The loud disturbance caught everyone's attention. Violetwind's hands raised to her mouth, in horror. She had only meant to get him away from her a little not cause him to fall. Now everyone was staring at them. The femme felt so embarrassed, wishing she could just become invisible.

However, such a wish was not to be granted. Just as Smokescreen was lifting himself out of the crates, Ultra Magnus strode over, his face set in a stern frown.

"Smokescreen, I told you to stack those crates not lie in them."

"Sorry, sir," he sat up, removing one of the crates from his lap.

"I- it was my fault, sir. I kinda pushed him. Please don't blame Smokescreen," the femme, fearfully spoke up, feeling guilty for getting her friend in trouble.

The commander turned to her, his intimidating gaze resting on her smaller frame. "And what was the reason for this?"

Shifting nervously on her pedes, she could not bring her optics to meet his. They had just been mucking around, but she was sure he frowned upon such actions and had no desire to earn an even harsher look.

Standing up, Smokescreen cleared his vocalisers, "Sir, we were just practising a little with a small spar. Can't have too much practice, right?"

The femme glanced at him, grateful for the rescue.

Ultra Magnus grunted, his gaze switching between the two Bots before him. The excuse was, of course, a lie; he had not been created yesterday. The mech frowned upon such frivolous behaviour as the pair had been conducting, acting like young bots just out of the All Spark. Such nonsense did not belong in their ranks. It was bad enough having to deal with Wheeljack and his reckless behaviour but now he had to deal with this immature pair.

With a deep sigh, he spoke gruffly, having decided that the best thing to do would be to separate them for the time being, "Smokescreen, clear up these crates like you were supposed to. Violetwind, go help Ratchet.

With humble nods, they moved off to accomplish their assigned tasks. Glancing back as she left, the purple femme offered an apologetic glance at Smokescreen. He merely offered a comforting smile in return. Personally he found it a little amusing thinking to himself, _Seems like we get into trouble together even without the Cons. _

Violetwind was just glad he was not mad at her for getting them in trouble, even if it was just a little bit. Feeling better thanks to his smile, she made her way over to where Ratchet was hunched over a project. "Um, so, what can I do for you?"

The medic had been watching the incident just like everyone else in the hanger and as such was not surprised by her presence, despite not appearing to have even been paying attention. Without taking his gaze off the piece of machinery in his hands, he waved in the direction of his work bench. "Fetch me some cords and wires."

"Ok," she muttered. Moving over to the bench, she glanced though the various odds and ends found upon its surface, searching for the objects the mech asked for. It was not a few moments later when she spotted some cords near the back. Standing on the tips of her pedes she leaned over, outstretched fingers trying to grasp the items just out of her reach.

Realising that this would not work she, quickly scanned the other objects for something that would allow her to extend her reach. What she decided upon was a stiff thin metal pole. She was not sure of its original purpose, but she did not need to know, only requiring it temporarily.

With her new tool in hand, Violetwind stretched out her arm once again. Using it, she managed to reach the cords, hooking them onto the pole. Grinning in triumph she brought them over, sliding them off into her free hand. Finished with the metal pole, she tossed it carelessly back onto the pile of junk on the table, denting the object and breaking a piece of glass in the process.

A frustrated huff came from behind her. "Violetwind, I needed that!"

Flinching, she slowly turned to Ratchet. "Sorry..."

The mech groaned, shaking his head before returning to work.

"But I got the cords you wanted..." she tried to lighten up the mood with a _little_ good news.

However, interrupting the awkward quiet was an incoming comm call from Optimus Prime. **::**Ratchet, I require a ground bridge.**::**

"Of course, Optimus," the medic replied.

The glowing vortex opened up and their leader stepped out, something in his hands. Everyone looked towards him with interest, curious to what he had brought back.

"Did you find energon?" questioned Ratchet hopefully.

"No. But I did uncover, this," he placed what looked like a large skull onto an empty platform.

Seeing the object, Ratchet's optics widened. "It cannot be..." He walked over to get a better look, his face still showing shock and amazement.

On top of the walkway, Jack watched them with confusion. "Be what?"

"The ancient remains of a Predacon," their leader supplied.

_Predacons... _

The purple femme's optic ridges pinched with confusion, not understanding the significance along with their young human companions.

Ratchet went on, "Though it remains unclear why such a skull would be found on your planet, its presence reveals all too much about the Predacon which Megatron sent in pursuit of us."

Pulling herself onto the platform where the bone now rested, Miko placed one hand on her hip,while she gestured to the air with the other. "You mean that dragon bot we put on ice?"

The medic grimaced, "Except that Predacons have been extinct since, well..."

"Since before most life began on Cybertron," Smokescreen finished for him.

_Until someone tampers with it..._

_What are you talking about? _

However Windy remained silent, her strange utterings going momentarily unanswered as Raf joined the conversation, commenting, "They're like Earth's dinosaurs."

Dipping his head in thought, Jack added, "Which means, for you, running into one would be like us meeting a T-rex."

"So, then what are Dinobots?" the human girl wondered.

_Another tale of the sadistic scientist. _

Bulkhead waved his hand dismissively. "Totally different."

_Seriously, what are you going on about?!_ The femme let out a small huff of frustration.

_Slaggin' Shockwave. _

_What about him?_

_He- he created the Dinobots. _She could hear the distress in her inner companion's voice, but did not understand.

_Ok, so he made them. I don't get it. _

_He was fragging monster! He used some captured Autobots to do it! Shockwave changed them... And I don't just mean he added a few parts to them. He really changed them. From the inside out. It... It was a terrible painful process. I'm glad I had already left by then... _

Violetwind felt a cold chill run down her backstrut, her own imagination taking over a little. It was a terrible thing to think about. Thankfully she did not get the chance to ponder it further as the others continued to talk.

Ratchet mused aloud, "With Megatron seeing new interest in the excavation of prehistoric skeletons and a certain scientist back among the Decepticon ranks..."

"It would stand to reason that Shockwave cloned the beast from such a find," Optimus concluded.

"Shockwave, sounds like a sick bastard," the purple femme muttered under her breath.

_Sick and twisted,_ her inner counterpart agreed.

The conversation continued above her as Ultra Magnus spoke, "And now Megatron's looking to clone another."

"What makes you think Buckethead would stop at just one?" Wheeljack highlighted what could potentially be a possible problem.

The large green mech shook his head gravely, "We could have beast wars on our hands."

"And if Shockwave only requires a single strand of CNA from which to clone a beast..." Ratchet muttered with worry.

Optimus finished the thought, "He already possess what he needs to engender this one. Autobots, we must become beast hunters."

Breaking in, Smokescreen brought up a thought which puzzled him, "One thing still doesn't follow. Predacons went extinct on Cybertron, so what would their bones be doing here?"

_I reckon I could answer that._ Windy quickly explained to Violetwind what she believed may have happened.

While she did so, Ratchet wandered over to his computer, bringing up all the information they had about Predacons. The humans made their way over to the railing beside the monitors to get a better look.

Upon seeing the pictures Jack pointed out with surprise, "But those are metal versions of our Greek mythology and medieval literature."

"Not dinosaurs," the younger boy added, hands resting on the railing.

Violetwind cleared her vocalisers to gather attention to her. "Um, seeing as, well, you all seem stumped, Windy has offered an explanation."

_'What is it?'_ The scout asked curiously.

"Back when she was working under Shockwave, he had been cloning beings from ancient CNA. She doesn't know for sure but at the time there had been rumours about Shockwave sending his creations off-world to guard energon deposits. That might be what they're doing here. Earth might be one of the places he sent them. It certainly explains why our ancient civilisations have such strange beasts in their lore."

Optimus nodded in agreement. "It stands to reason that the Predacons did indeed walk upon this earth in ancient times. And, as you have suggested, Violetwind, they seem to have been the basis for much of humankind's folklore, illustrating once again that the pasts of Earth and Cybertron are inexplicably linked..."

* * *

><p>Sorry, not sorry for any fluff in this chapter!<br>But definitely one of my favourite chapters, even without it, cause of Vi and that string. XD


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Night had fallen over the military base and with it most of the residents. It was quiet in the Autobot's hanger as well. Over half of the mechanic beings had slipped into recharge in their vehicle modes to conserve space since they lacked the room for a berth each. Even the human children lacked beds to sleep in.

The three young ones had taken up spots on the couches. Rafael lay on his stomach, glasses in one hand as he slept on the two seater. While the three seater couch held Miko and Jack. The former was sleeping on her side, using the arm rest for a pillow. The latter slept sitting somewhat upright, head thrown back with arms lazily left at his sides.

Watching the three sleep, Violetwind smiled thinking they all looked rather cute like that. She did wish they could have better sleeping arrangements though. Couches do not make good beds.

Turing away from the trio she stepped away from the main platform. The sun would be rising soon enough and she did not want to accidentally disturb them. Instead she went over to Ratchet. The medic was always busy with something, so her hopes of getting stuck into a project would likely be granted.

"Anything I can help you with, Ratchet?" she asked cheerily.

Glancing her way, he grunted, nodding towards the screen. "What do you and Windy know about Synthetic Energon?"

Stepping closer she looked over the formulas and chemical composition, admitting, "I for one don't know much, just... Um, I was told a little bit of when you used it..."

The medic's face became dark, optics narrowing although not at her. "It was unfinished then. And no one shall be testing it until we are sure that it is complete."

Realising that he did not wish to talk about the experience she nodded, not speaking of it further. Instead she asked after what Windy knew of the Synthetic Energon.

_Hmm,_ her companion muttered,_ well I can't say I know a lot. There was often talk in the scientific community about there supposedly being a way to manufacture Energon. But personally I had been doubtful. Though if we can get this to work, I guess I'll have to change my thoughts on that. So, basically, no to the Doc. _

"Sorry, Ratchet. Windy doesn't know anything either."

"Suppose I'll just have to teach you all I've learnt so far so you can properly aid me."

For the rest of the early morning they worked on the Synthetic Energon. Ratchet taught her all he could about the substance: from the uncompleted formula to the manufacture of his small sample.

During their work, Ratchet paused to turn to the femme. He had promised himself that he would persist in trying to get her to allow him to scan her processor. "Violetwind." She glanced up at him and he continued. "I ask again, please let me scan you. I will get it one way or another."

_Slag no!_ Yelled Windy.

Violetwind shook her helm. "No, Ratchet. You already asked and you're getting the same answer. No. Can we just focus on the Synthetic Energon."

With a sigh the medic hung his head. It had been worth a try. _I will not let up, Violetwind. I will do what's necessary to make sure you two are alright. _

By the time the sun had risen over the horizon they pair were still working on the formula but will little the sun up, Optimus came out of his recharge and returned to robot mode. However, he lacked the distinct drowsiness that accompanied most just waking up. The mech had been watching and listening, simply contemplating their current situation against the Decepticons.

Seeing Ratchet and Violetwind at work, he wandered over. With just a quick glance at what they were up to he deduced what was going on. "Synthetic Energon?"

"Indeed," turning from his work the medic continued, "I am concerned that without access to any energon reserves since our base was destroyed our ability to deal with impending crisis will be severely hampered."

"A wise decision, old friend."

"You really think we'll be in that much trouble? Surely we'll find something soon right?" Violetwind questioned, worry evident in her voice.

Letting out a small sigh, Ratchet muttered, "Yes. Our supply is dangerously low as it is..."

"We must have hope that we will be able to obtain access to a new energon deposit soon."

The femme nodded in solemn understanding, "So we really do need to make this work, huh?"

"We do." Though the medic was still doubtful of his ability to complete the formula. "Just please, manage your expectations." He gestured to the table scattered with broken human technology, including speakers, old monitors and other electrical equipment. "I am working with even more rudimentary hardware than before."

"Hey, at least you've got help," the femme smiled, trying to look on he bright side.

A shout came from the walkway outside of Agent Fowler's office. "Prime!"

The trio turned to see the man himself staring up at them.

"Satellite surveillance has detected two signs of Decepticon activity. One near a field outside of El Paso, the other near the Hebrides Bluffs in Scotland. So don't forget to pack your kilts."

The shouts from the man had woken the other bots from recharge. Having returned to robot mode they looked expectantly over at Optimus. He was not about to disappoint as he swiftly gave out an order. "We must divide our resources. Ultra Magnus, lead the Wreckers to the bluffs. Bumblebee, Smokescreen and I will investigate the oil fields."

"Yes, Optimus," the commander replied. After a pause he glanced around and approached the taller mech, keeping his voice low in slight embarrassment at not fully understanding the human, "What's a kilt?"

The Prime's optics glanced at Agent Fowler, then at Ultra Magnus before looking away again and leaning a little closer, keeping quiet, "Agent Fowler at times can be oblique." He looked back at the mech, "I find it best to simply nod and mobilise."

He nodded in understanding and turned to the Wreckers, barking out a command, "Bulkhead, Wheeljack. Let's roll out."

Before they even had a chance to reply, he walked off, leaving them a little bewildered. Only Wheeljack managed to even get something passed his vocalisers, though it was only a simple, "Uhh..."

The mech was unconcerned, however, his thoughts on something else entirely. He stepped over to where the Forge of Solus Prime rested against the wall. "Optimus, I know there are many emotions tied to the forge..."

Walking up behind him, Optimus set his gaze upon the ancient artifact. It was true, many emotions flickered through his spark about it. Yet, he knew he could not let that restrict them, not in something like this at least. Something else perhaps but not this. "This is no time to stand on ceremony."

Picking it up, Ultra Magnus felt the weight of it in his hands, "I would be honoured to put this to some practical use."

"Alright, let's smash some Cons!" Bulkhead bumped his fists together eagerly.

"Wreckers, to my ship."

The trio headed off the the adjacent hanger where Ultra Magnus' ship was stored.

Violetwind waved goodbye as they left, before turning her attention to those leaving via the ground bridge. Ratchet had already opened the vortex, ready to transport them to the second location.

"Bye," the femme waved. "Be careful, guys!"

"Aren't I always?" joked Smokescreen with a playful smile.

"No," she returned with an unimpressed look on her face.

Bumblebee hit the blue mech on the back, _'We'll be fine.'_

"Just make sure those Cons don't get another piece of a Predacon bone," Arcee added, her arms folded.

Optimus nodded in agreement. "It is vital we prevent them from obtaining even a single strand of CNA. Autobots, roll out!"

Transforming, the three Bots drove through the ground bridge. Once they had entered the vortex closed behind them, leaving the two femmes and Ratchet in the base with the humans.

Nobody moved for a few seconds, letting the sudden silence envelop them. Ratchet was the first to move. "Violetwind, fetch me another empty energon tube."

"Yes, Ratchet." Immediately she reached over the pile of odds and ends for the item. Handing it to the medic she glanced towards the humans, noticing that they were awake and one was missing. "Hey, where's Miko?"

Eating an Granola bar, Jack swallowed his mouthful before replying, "Said she was going to fetch us some sodas."

"Bit early," the femme muttered thoughtfully.

The boy just shrugged and kept eating.

Letting out a small vent of air she was about to turn back to continue helping with he Synthetic Energon when Arcee walked over.

"Hey, Vi, maybe I could tear you away from Ratch long enough to have a spar?"

"I don't know... I'm not really going out in the field any more. And don't really need to practice so much, right?" she gently protested, not wishing to do any fighting.

"No way. Just because you don't think you'll need it, doesn't mean you won't. We're in a war. We all need to keep our skills sharp. And you still have much to learn, so come on," the blue femme beckoned for her to follow.

"Ratchet..." she whined, hoping he would say he needed her and get her out of it.

However, he did no such thing. "Arcee's right. You still require practice, so off you go. Just don't go doing any damage. We don't need to be wasting energon."

Violetwind groaned in defeat. Seemed like she would not be getting out of it.

_Fighting's not that hard, is it? _

_We it's not like I've had any good experiences with it lately..._

Arcee led her over the the centre of the room, where they would have plenty of space. They stood facing each other, the smaller blue femme raising her fists. "No weapons. Just your hands. First one to floor their opponent wins."

She baulked, feeling like her spark had jumped into her throat. "We're gonna fight, like a real fight, like all out?"

"Best way to learn," Arcee smirked.

With a nervous grimace, Violetwind raised her fists, not really ready but trying to at least look it.

_You'd so better help me with this._

_Really? Come on, she's smaller than you are. And besides, it's only practice. _

_But I'll get my can handed to me!_

_Learn though pain,_ Windy teased.

The femme let out a small noise that was a mix between and whine and a groan.

"So you ready then?"

"I guess so..."

"Then let's begin."

The two females stared at each other, sizing up their opponent to read their next action. Arcee was the first to move, stepping forward to throw a fist at Violetwind's stomach plates. In response she stepped backward to escape the smaller femme's range.

This threw her attacker off balance, but she quickly recovered to move back and glance at her questioningly. "You had a perfect opportunity to strike, you know?"

"Um, well, I don't really want to do this and hurt you..."

Arcee huffed, rolling her optics. "Look. This is a fight. Get rid of your emotions. It doesn't help you. You need to focus on two things: one, keeping yourself from getting killed; and two, taking out your enemy."

Distress showed up plainly on her face, "But you're not my enemy..."

"For this fight I am. So come on. It's not like this is your first time. We've sparred before. Get with the program and buck up," she scolded.

Nodding nervously, Violetwind tried to pull herself together. It was true, this was not her first fight, nor her first spar with the two wheeler. She was not entirely sure why she was being so hesitant about it. Perhaps it may be somewhat influenced by trauma of fighting with the Decepticons before, and she had had enough violence to last a lifetime. Or perhaps it had something to do with a bad feeling about this whole thing.

Whatever it was, she tried to bury it and from then on to ignore it.

Releasing a slow vent, she clenched and unclenched her fists a few times. "Ok, I'm gonna give it a go this time."

The femme smiled, raising her own fists again, "Good. Best two out of three."

"You're on."

Their fight started up once again. This time Violetwind tried to pick up her courage and decided to act first. She swung her right fist for her opponent's head. Seeing the sloppy punch coming, Arcee's quick reflexes helped her to dodge to the left, avoiding the hit. Immediately she retaliated, winding up to deliver a swift kick to the purple femme's stomach plates. Before she could even react, the kick landed sending the femme stumbling backwards, clutching at the spot.

"Nice, hit," she wheezed.

Arcee smirked, her fists still raised defensively as she moved a little closer. "You really need to be quick and light on your pedes in order to win."

"Yeah, I'll remember that..." she huffed, standing upright again, doing her best to be ready for another attack.

For a few moments they just seemed to dance around each other, but the blue femme soon took the opportunity to strike again. With a quick jab of her left fist, she aimed for Violetwind's head, but this time she was ready, blocking the attack with her arm. Another swing from Arcee saw her bring up her other arm in defence.

Again and again, the smaller two wheeler threw punches and each time the purple femme was able to block them. With this not working Arcee pulled back, her opponent let loose a sigh, glad to be getting a break. She was not sure how much longer she could have kept it up.

In the small moment of peace, Violetwind clenched her denta in worry. The fight might have only just begun but she felt like she was barely just holding on. She had absolutely no idea of strategies and only as much technique as they had tried to teach her before. Windy was the only reason she had been able to hold on in any other fight and that was even before she knew who Windy was.

_Please, won't you help me out here..._ She whined, attempting to dodge another fist but was instead hit on the side of the helm.

_Slag, you're not doing that badly. Keep at it._

The femme groaned, tensing in preparation for another fist coming her way.

However, instead of punching her again, Arcee stood back, a mocking 'come on, try something' smile on her face. It did nothing to help her confidence issues. Yet, she was going to attempt something anyway.

Letting out a slow vent she centred herself, before she charged forward, right fist aimed to land a heavy punch. In the few steps it took to reach Arcee, the blue femme's optics shone with surprise at the bold attack. She did not let her surprise get the best of her though, side stepping, she swung her pede out at Violetwind's lower leg. A solid clang rang out as metal hit metal and the purple femme tumbled to the floor, sending out a cacophony of bangs and clinks.

Not a second had passed after she had stopped moving before Arcee declared in triumph, "That's one for me."

On the floor, the femme groaned, "Can I just stay here?"

"No. You can't give up that easily. Get up!"

She let out a deep sigh but rose to her pedes, lifting her fists up again as she faced the blue femme. "Let's just get this over with."

With a nod, the blue femme also returned to a ready stance.

A stern expression replaced, Violetwind's previous one of worry. Her mouth was set with grim determination. She was not going to go down again.

Noticing the expression, her opponent teased, "Now that's better. Make this fight more interesting."

"Ok," she grunted. In a flash she had closed the distance between them. Using the same move as before, Arcee dodged and aimed a kick at the femme's legs. This time, however, she knew it was coming and jumped, the kick missing its target. Not ready for such a thing, Violetwind got the drop on her, sending her to the ground with a punch to the helm.

The purple femme stood smiling victoriously over Arcee. The fallen warrior groaned, her optics briefly closing as her head rang from the hit. "Where did that come from? Windy give you that?"

Her face fell as she looked down at Arcee. "I'm really, sorry. I didn't hurt your too much did I?" She leaned over to help her up. "Um, no. Windy didn't say a thing. She was leaving this fight to me... I don't know where it came from."

Taking the help, the two wheeler found herself on her pedes looking up at the purple femme. "Well, it worked and that's all that matters. And I'm fine. Takes more than one hit to get me. Now, shall we see who wins this thing?"

"Um, ok."

As they readied for another round, Agent Fowler interrupted, "Violetwind! Over here!"

The femme dropped her arms, turning her attention to the man. He looked back at her, waiting for her to come closer. Taking the cue, she left Arcee and wandered over to where he stood at the railing in front of his office.

"I've been able to contact your parents. Told them you were doing some special species research for Uncle Sam. You'll be able to email them if that's what you want but I'm not letting any messages through that I haven't checked personally, you got it? You are not allowed to tell them _anything_ about what happened to you. We can't have word of this getting out. Not even my superiors know of this. I can just imagine how the top brass at the Pentagon would react to such news." He rubbed his face, knowing how much trouble everyone would be in.

"I understand, Agent Fowler. I can send them messages but no details. I think I can handle that," a smile pulled up her mouth as she thought about being able to contact her parents. She was not sure what she would tell them but she was sure she would think of something.

"Good," the man replied with a firm nod.

Finished, he wandered off back to his office, leaving her standing there. The femme wanted to shout with excitement but held it in, not wishing to make a scene. It was such good news and although the only memories she had of her family were told to her second hand by Windy, they were still parts of her.

_You gonna get started on something right now? _

_Oh, yes! I am. I am!_

"Ratchet, do we have any paper and pens?"

* * *

><p>Pens and paper for a transformer *shakes head* silly Violet.<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Sitting by the human's platform Violetwind chatted excitedly to Rafael. Apparently they did not have pen and paper large enough for Cybertronians so she was getting help from the young human in composing the email. Especially since, despite her pleas, Ratchet had not allowed her to use them main console, stating that it was designed for Cybertronian script not human English so it would be useless anyway and besides that he was busy using it.

"So what do you think of it so far?" Rafael turned to her as he adjusted his glasses.

Leaning closer Violetwind read what they had of the email so far.

_Dear Mum and Dad,  
>Hope you weren't too worried when you didn't hear from me for a few weeks. I didn't get much time to prepare for the trip after it was offered. It did not help that we headed into areas that were too remote for phone reception. I'm really sorry I didn't get the chance to tell you before but it was an opportunity I couldn't pass up.<br>Before you ask, things have been going great. The people I'm working with are fantastic, and just great to be around. I've learnt so much from them already and hope to learn a lot more. _

"It sounds good so far. How about adding something like, 'I've become really close friends with one of the other women in the group. She's become sort of like a mentor to me and we rarely spend any time apart.'"

_Aww, so sweet of you to mention me. _

She smirked a little. _Well how could I not. You are my constant companion after all. Plus you're the reason for all this. _

"Alright," the boy nodded and quickly typed up the new addition. "You're getting a little close to the truth though, aren't you?"

"I know. But- well, I do want to actually tell them something about my current life, you know. Even if I can't actually tell them about what really happened to me. I don't think they'd take it too well anyway if I could tell them..." she lamented, rubbing her elbow nervously. "I mean, I don't want to spout off lies every time I send them a message. It wouldn't feel very good."

Glancing up from his work, Rafael smiled at her comfortingly. "I understand. You want to be able to still connect with them, even though you aren't able to let them know what happened."

"Yeah... I wish I could go see them. Even if it was just from a distance. I would like to have actual memories of them." She rested her hands on the railing to lean closer, "That's not unreasonable is it, Raf?"

"I don't think so. Maybe Agent Fowler will grant you permission to see them when the Bots aren't busy." Reaching out a hand, the boy rested it on her finger. With a smile he offered, "I'd be happy to come with you, and Bee too I'm sure, if you needed some support."

Violetwind felt her worries vanish, touched by the boy's warmth. "Thank you, Raf. If Agent Fowler lets me, I'll certainly take you and Bee along."

The computer made a soft noise as a message came though. Quickly scanning it, Raf called out, "Incoming ground bridge request. From Scotland."

The vortex opened up and through it drove the white, red and green Wrecker.

Approaching him Arcee asked, "Wheeljack, what happened? Where are the others?"

Transforming he frowned, "Having a swell time taking the long way home in Ultra Magnus's boat I'm sure. Miko included."

Rafael and Jack looked unsurprised, the former commenting, "I wondered what was taking so long with those sodas."

Nobody else seemed terribly bothered by the news either. It was not he first time the girl had snuck off to join a mission and it sounded like she was fine in any case. However, one bot was somewhat distressed by the others' lack of concern.

Raising her voice, Violetwind glared darkly at the humans, "Don't you care at all that she could have been in danger?"

The older boy shrugged his shoulders, "It's not like it's the first time she's done this. And Wheeljack did say she was with the Bots and they were already headed back. Bulkhead keeps her safe."

"So? Just because she's done this before makes it ok for you not to worry, does it? And you know very well Bulkhead can't protect her from everything!"

"Violet, is everything alright?" The pre-teen asked quietly. He was concerned at her sudden overreaction to Miko's disappearance. It was not like her to react in such a manner. "You don't usually shout so much..."

Slowly her face drained of distress and became blank for a moment. Calming down she lowered her gaze in embarrassment. "You're right," she muttered softly, "I'm sorry for raising my voice. I guess I was just a little worried about Miko for a sec and might have overreacted..."

"It's ok," Raf smiled at her, forgiving the outburst.

Over by his station, Ratchet looked on in worry, though not for Miko. The old medic was concerned about the femme's reaction. It was contrary to her usual nature and he did not like it.

However, for the moment she had gone back to chatting happily with Rafael, so for now he turned his attention to Wheeljack. "Did you secure the Predacon bone?"

He mech softly grunted, recalling how the mission had ended. "The, uh, beast hunt kinda imploded, Doc."

Walking over on the raised walkway, Agent Fowler announced, "Well, I just got wind of another Con hotspot right outside of Taos, New Mexico. Since Team Prime's unit isn't back from oil country..."

"There has been a lot of Con activity lately..." Violetwind mumbled quietly.

Arcee immediately took charge, barking out orders, "Raf, set a bridge for Fowler's coordinates. You, roll with me," she pointed at Wheeljack and started to head towards the ground bridge's position.

Almost as soon as she started moving, however, she was stopped by the mech's protest. "Not today, alright?"

The blue femme kept walking, not even bothering to look back as she replied offhandedly, "If you're alright sending me alone...?"

"Alone's how I prefer to roll."

Ratchet interrupted, grumbling in irritation, "Wheeljack, you do not want to make me abandon a complex equation to venture outside my comfort zone."

"What about Violetwind?" He gestured towards the femme, still trying to get out of going.

"Violetwind's hardly up for the task if we run into trouble," shot Arcee, not taking her optics off the mech.

"Hey..." The femme in question protested.

"She can fight, can't she?"

"Yeah, but doesn't mean she can fight Cons."

"Oh, come on, Vehicons are like the easiest things in the world to take on."

"You haven't seen her in battle. She froze right up last time. Almost got herself killed. I don't need to go out there needing to look after another Bot. I need someone I can rely on."

"Um, you know I can hear you, right?" Violetwind glanced down at Rafael, "They do realise I'm in the room, don't they?"

The young human shrugged.

She knew Arcee had a point but it still did not mean she liked hearing it out loud. The battle back on Cybertron, where she had frozen in fear, was not exactly something she wished to remember.

"Wheeljack," the medic growled warningly.

"Ughh, fine." The mech relented and he followed Arcee toward the ground bridge. "But in case you hadn't figured out; I don't play well with others..." his voice trailed off as they disappeared.

Closing the ground bridge after them, Rafael turned his attention back to the purple femme. "Shall we continue with your email?"

~oOo~

Some time later, Violetwind and Rafael had finished composing the email to her parents and had sent it to Agent Fowler for approval, something he said he would do, after he had completed some other work. Rafael soon found himself busy, working his magic as he searched the internet and removed evidence of Transformers.

The femme, however, found herself occupying her time sitting by the workbench looking over Ratchet's shoulder; the medic still trying to complete the formula for Synthetic Energon.

"Shouldn't you get some recharge Ratchet? You've been at this an awful long time."

"I'm fine,"he grumbled in return. Pausing, he glanced wearily at her, "What about you? You were up early. Something on your mind?"

Violetwind shrugged, avoiding his gaze, Her door wings twitched as she picked at the dirt between the joints of her fingers. "Just couldn't seem to stay in recharge. Thought I might as well do something useful. Better than wasting my time, ya know."

"And your outburst earlier?"

She lowered her hands to her lap, fingers interlaced still not looking up. "I was overreacting. I don't know. I guess the incident just struck a chord is all... Anyway, enough about me how about that formula?"

Turning back to the monitor, Ratchet did his best to go back to working on the Synthetic Energon but could not keep his mind from wandering back to the femme. Something was odd before, yet she seemed fine now. Perhaps he should press for a scan of her processor again.

Not long afterwards a car pulled up outside and another human entered the hanger. Mrs. Darby walked up onto the platform, coming up behind where her son sat on the couch playing a video game on the TV.

"Nice shooting, tex."

"Hey Mom, what's up?" he glanced up from his game.

Having heard her car arrive, Agent Fowler emerged from his office. He greeted the woman with a smile, "Nurse Darby, what brings you here?"

Bouncing up from where she sat, Violetwind raced over, interrupted them,"Agent Fowler did you get a chance to check the email yet?"

The man sighed, an irritated look in his eye, "No, I haven't."

Letting out a whimper, the femme's door wings dropped as she reached them. Upon taking note of June, however she perked up. "June! I feel like it's been a while since I last saw you! What are you doing here?"

The woman smiled up at her, "Hello, Violet. Well as I was just about to tell Agent Fowler, I'm here for the medical supplies he so graciously offered to donate. The ones Jack keeps promising to bring over but keeps _forgetting_... The hospital appreciates your generosity, Agent Fowler."

This seemed to brighten his mood, Fowler replying warmly, "Please, call me William."

Jack's face took on a look of confusion that clearly said 'what?' as he swivelled around to look over at the adults. Seeing his face, the purple femme placed a hand hover her mouth to hide the amused grin that threatened to turn into giggles. He did not seem to appreciate the exchange going on behind him.

However, there was no chance for Jack to do anything for at that instant Rafael called out, "Guys! I found a Predacon talon in a museum. Scientists were totally stumped when they excavated it in 1922, so it's been sitting in storage."

The boy directed their attention towards his computer screen. Therein was a picture of the large claw of when the bone had been on display.

"But we're fresh out of beast hunters," commented Jack.

"Shame no one's back yet," replied the femme thoughtfully.

Off to the side Ratchet grumbled, "I didn't choose 'emergency' as my vehicle mode for laughs."

Placing his hands behind his back and puffing his chest out, Fowler calmly interrupted, "Not sure you need a Bot."

"Maybe you should all just wait for Optimus," suggested June a little nervously.

Not about to be put off, the man continued, "I'll have you know, Nurse Darby, I was an Army Ranger and federal agent for Unit:E three decades before I ever heard the _name_ 'Optimus Prime.' I'm more that equipped to handle a milk run. In fact, why don't you tag along?"

"Ohh, I don't know about," she replied, not sure if she wanted to go on any kind of mission.

Stepping forward, Jack waved his hands about, "A-absolutely not, Mom. I don't want you anywhere near anything Con. It's not-"

"Safe?" she finished hands on her hips. "Is my teenaged son seriously going to tell me that it's fine for him to go to travel all the way to Cybertron, but his mother can't be trusted to go on a, on a..."

June glanced at Fowler for help, which he offered leaning toward to whisper, "Milk run."

"A milk run!"

The boy was a little taken back by his mother's response trying to get something out, "No, I, ah, it's just you're lactose intolerant and I..."

Giving him a sharp look, she turned away to walk off, "Come on, Agent Fowler."

"Oh hey!" Violetwind quickly made her way around to stand at the bottom of the stairs, looking at them hopefully, "If there's not going to be any fighting, maybe I could drive you two? I haven't been out much since we got the new base and all..."

The woman considered her offer for a moment before nodding. "Only as long as you're not going to protest to my going."

"Wouldn't dream of it," she replied, "I only want to come cause it should be safe."

"Just a simple collection, nothing easier that that," Agent Fowler confirmed.

"Alright then," she grinned excitedly before proceeding to transform and open her doors. "Hop in!"

~oOo~

Evening had fallen by the time they reached the museum, arriving just before the place closed for the day. Agent Fowler and June headed inside, leaving Violetwind to wait in the carpark.

Switching off her headlights, she sat watching the last of the sun's rays touch the sky. _Just beautiful isn't it? _

_It certainly is._

A few minutes ticked by as she waited, quietly enjoying the sunset. Most of the other cars in the parking lot had left except for those belonging to the remaining museum staff. So when headlights drove up behind her, Violetwind was cautiously curious.

The bright lights shone over her, obscuring her view of the vehicle but when it came around, to park beside her the femme gasped. The red sports car that drove up with white trim on the doors and yellow wheel rims was all to familiar.

_Knock Out,_ Windy growled.

"My, my, my. Who do we have here? Just out and about are we?"

Transforming, the femme whirled around to face him as she jumped backward. With knees bent and right hand resting on the ground, she drew out the blaster on her left arm. Her blue optics, bright in the darkness, were wide in fear. This was supposed to have been a no risk mission. That was the only reason she was even there! "Kn- Knock Out, what are you doing here?"

He let out an amused chuckle, transforming to stand in front of her. "For the same reason you are, I'm sure. Collecting a little prize."

Spark beating wildly in her chest, Violetwind slowly stood up straight, weapon aimed at the mech, "I- I can't let you take that bone."

Knock Out smirked at her uneasiness. "You know, I've been wanting to see you again. Haven't seen you since you scratched my finish and put a dent in my helm." His optics darkened at the last part.

"Um, yeah, sorry about that. I did need to get away and all..." she remembered the incident well, being aboard the Nemesis was hardly an experience one was likely to forget. "In my defence it did seem like you were going to kill me at the time... So, how about we just forget the whole thing...?"

"And rob me of my revenge? That's not very sporting off you," the mech's optics narrowed, letting his right hand flick downward as he brought out his buzz saw. "I know of a simple little procedure that will take a little weight off your body. A simple cut across the neck."

_We're about to be in a fight here. You ready for this._

_I'm never ready!_

_Just stay alert._

Leaping toward her, Knock Out extended the arm with the circular saw buzzing. Dodging to the side the femme vented a sigh in relief as it missed. Though, she did not have time to rest, the mech taking another swing at her.

_Duck. _

Dropping down, the blade passed over her but came just a touch too close for her liking.

_Take a shot at him. _

Doing as Windy commanded, she aimed for the red mech's chest and fired. He was unable to get out of the way in time, the blast hitting his shoulder leaving a nasty black burn.

Shrieking in pain, Knock Out glared at her, "Look at what you did! You're going to pay for that!"

"Oh dear..." she muttered, the shot having only made him angrier rather than disable him.

He charged her again, Violetwind jumping out of he way but not quite making it. The blade nicked her upper left arm. Bright blue energon leaked from the wound. She tried to ignore the pain, gritting her denta as she concentrated on the fight.

"I feel like this is my lucky day; coming across the predacon bone on the humans interweb, Megatron allowing me the privilege to collect it _and_ getting to take down an Autobot. It really is amazing how good it gets sometimes," Knock Out jeered, the two circling one another.

_We just need to get him down. Swipe his legs out from under him with a spin._

With a slight nod, she dodged to the side. Ignoring the slice to her right arm, Violetwind bent down a little to lean on one leg and turn, using the momentum to kick the mech's legs.

The force took his legs out from under him, knocking him to his back. Before he could get up, she placed a pede on his chest and held a sword to his neck.

Despite the victory she did not feel very happy, not sure what to do with him now. Voice still shaky she warned, "Don't make me do something we'll both regret."

"Oh, I wouldn't dream of it," he grumbled, rolling his optics.

The sound of voices drew her attention away from the Decepticon. It sounded like June and Agent Fowler had acquired the Predacon bone and were headed out.

Knock Out smiled, having also spotted the humans. "Well that certainly makes things easier. I won't need to break in and search for it myself."

Whipping her head back around to look at him, she did not see the rod until it was too late. The mech had brought out his trusty shock rod while she was not paying attention and aimed it right for her neck. Jolts of electricity sparked through her circuits. Pain coursed through her circuits and caused her to loose control of her motor functions.

The femme fell to the ground with a groan. The rotten cheat had pulled a fast one on her. Next time she would need to remember to pay closer attention to her enemy. If there was a next time...

"It was lovely catching up, we shall have to do it again some time. But for now, I have some people to meet." Knock Out jammed the end of the rod into her neck again.

The pain flared up again but she could only think of what she had left the pair of humans to face alone. _Why couldn't someone more competent have gone?_

But there had been no one else.

"Fowler... June..." The femme muttered weakly in worry as she lost consciousness and everything went black.

* * *

><p>Hehe, Arcee and Wheeljack talking about Violet like she's not even there and then she comments on it, definitely one of my favourite parts of the chapter.<br>Also, I love Knock Out, he's so much fun to have in there.


	5. Chapter 5

Bit of a longer chapter this time, hope ya don't mind. Also a few car terms which I believe are different between Aus and the US so put what they are in brackets after it so you know what I'm talking about.

* * *

><p>Chapter 5<p>

Agent Fowler and June exited the museum, prize in hand. The Predacon bone was inside a crate under Fowler's arm. They were discussing their encounter inside.

"What did I tell ya? Milk run."

June chuckled lightly, "With one cranky cow."

"The curator?" The man grinned, "Acted like he was guarding the Mona Lisa instead of some prehistoric lug-nut that's been gathering dust since Harding was president."

Glancing over at him, she smiled, "I have to say Agent Fowler, you handled him well. I was _quite_ impressed."

His eyes sparkled with pride at the compliment. "Nurse Darby, I'd say that puts you one step ahead of my ex."

"Hmm," the woman nodded knowingly, "divorced, huh?"

"Uhh, yeah..." he admitted. Now that ex-partners had been brought up he was curious as to her own situation. "What about you? What's the story with Mr. Darby?"

June sighed. "More like a saga but one I'm sure you've heard before," she avoided answering directly.

Suddenly the pair realised they should have come across their ride by then, yet there was no sight of the sporty purple car.

"Violetwind?" The woman called out in worry, looking about. "What could have happened to her?"

Instead of the female Autobot, a red vehicle drove up, its headlights glaring into their eyes. A voice came from the vehicle, "She had an appointment. And _I_ have a bone to pick with the both of you."

From the side of the car, Knock Out drew a weapon, the sound of it charging filled the night.

Immediately Agent Fowler placed himself between the Decepticon and June and shouted "Run!"

Just as she started to do so, Knock Out fired, the electrical shot hitting them and shocking them unconscious, their bodies hitting the concrete.

Transforming, the mech picked up the crate, looking thoughtfully down at the humans. "Why bring back just one prize when I can take three..." Quickly he scooped up the humans, disarming the man and transformed around his captives who were just stating to stir.

As they woke they groggily looked around to find themselves within Knock Out's boot (trunk), lying back to back. "Kick back, relax and enjoy the scenery," he taunted with a brief chuckle. Closing the boot, he drove off with his new prisoners, as well as the Predacon bone sitting in his front passenger's side seat, thinking to himself that it was a shame he could not take the femme along as well. Now that _would_ please Megatron after all the trouble she caused. He shrugged it off though. Such a thing would have to wait for next time. For now he focused on getting out of town so he could call for a ground bridge.

Soon enough he made it to the highway, dust, rocks and scrub bushes the only things surrounding him. Not about to wait any longer he commed back to the warship. "Knock Out to Lord Megatron. I have secured one vintage Predacon talon. Plus two of the Autobot's pets, for you to employ as hostages, lab experiments... Well, any way you see fit. So go on Big M, tell me you love me more than Starscream."

Instead of the praise he desired the vain mech was met with static.

"My liege?"

Yet more static.

"Hello? Too familiar?" he uttered in confusion, not understanding why there would be a lack of a response.

Trapped inside the boot June and Agent Fowler were getting testy over their predicament, neither appreciating the ride.

"I told you we should have waited for Optimus," the woman snapped, twisting her head around to try and glare at her companion.

Agent Fowler crossed his arms, rolling his eyes in annoyance. "There it is, the 'I told you so.' Well no sale, sister. The Con was at the museum. If we had waited he would have snagged the talon before Prime got there."

With a huff June retorted, "And given out current situation, what difference would that have made?"

Having been listening to the conversation, Knock Out finally interrupted, "_Hello_, how long have you two been dating? Because you bicker like an old married couple."

"What?" yelled Agent Fowler.

"We're not dating," the woman stated a little too firmly.

Ignoring them, the mech went on, "Frankly I find it repulsive. The whole idea of you fleshies... _Interfacing_. Urgh." He made a disgusted noise at the thought. Wanting to forget about it, he tried calling the Nemesis once more. "Knock Out to base, requesting pick up. _Again_."

But there was no response.

"Alright is anyone up there receiving me? If Steve's broken something again... I swear I'll take him apart myself," he grumbled.

In the back Agent Fowler was calmer, if a little worried. "Nurse Darby? June?" he said keeping his voice down, "It sounds like Violetwind has been incapacitated and won't be coming for us and if this Con gets us to Megatron's warship, the chances of the Bots ever finding us decreases a thousandfold."

"Never let a Decepticon take you to a second location," she muttered in understanding. The woman let out a soft breath, really hoping that Knock Out had not gone so far as to kill the purple femme.

"He disarmed me back at the museum," Fowler continued, "Do you have anything we can use as a weapon?"

Reaching into her pocket she pulled out a small can with some difficulty given the small space. "Pepper spray?"

"On a bot?"

She shrugged. It was not like they had anything else.

~oOo~

"Nmmm," groaned the purple femme as she awoke. Pain shot through her systems, her face plates scrunched up as she resisted crying out. Once it had subsided she opened her optics, raising herself into a sitting position. With a small hiss she tenderly rubbed her neck where Knock Out had stabbed her with his shock rod, thinking that it was a nasty piece of work.

Remembering the fight, her head shot up and looking around. Knock Out was gone but there was no sign of the two humans she had been with.

Suddenly her head shot up as she realised that she was alone. Her wide blue optics darted about looking for signs of the humans she had been with but they weren't there.

"Agent Fowler, June..." she muttered, her worry mounting. If the humans were still inside they didn't know of the Decepticon's presence and perhaps she should go after Knock Out, but if they were not and they had seen him...

Getting to her pedes, Violetwind glanced about, nervous the shadows might be hiding the red mech. She took a few steps toward the museum before she stopped and walked in the other direction. Pausing again she stood, biting her lip as her door wings quivered.

"O, what do I do...?" she whined, uncertain of her next course of action.

_Try calling Fowler. Maybe they haven't even left yet and you're getting worried over nothing, _Windy suggested hopefully.

"Yeah, ok." she clicked on the comm link to call the agent's mobile phone.

**::**You have reached special agent William Fowler. Leave a message after the star spangled beep.**::**

"Scrap," she cursed, "it went straight to voice mail."

Taking another step, she heard a small crunch as she stepped on something. Lifting a pede she glanced down at the objects. She gasped, bending down to pick them up. It was Agent Fowler and June's phones.

"They wouldn't leave these behind..."

_Aren't humans attached to their mobile devices?_

"Now's not the time for jokes, Windy," the femme scolded as she straightened up.

_Alright, alright. I guess the only answer could be Knock Out then. We've gotta get after that slagging Con. _

"Should we inform the others?"

_So they can do what? Worry? Chances are no one's back anyway. It's just us. So get out there and track down that Con! _

"Right," the femme transformed into her alt-mode. Driving off she hoped she could find the mech, though she was hesitant to want to engage him in another fight on her own. But she would do whatever it took to get the humans back.

~oOo~

Still unable to reach the Nemesis, the Decepticon medic continued to drive around; much to the mech's growing annoyance. "Knock Out to base, requesting ground bridge for the umpteenth time. Come in, base. Urgh. I can't drive around all night."

A soft beeping alarm sounded from inside the vehicle.

"What?"

Climbing out of the rear of the car was Fowler. With a bit of effort for his hefty frame, the man squeezed through the seats. Hand outstretched he grabbed the steering wheel. Man and machine wrestled for control of the steering, the car swerving back and forth. They turned off the main road, tires scrambling over the loose dirt beside a train yard.

"Watch the rims!" Knock Out yelled in alarm, concerned about his precious paint job as they skidded over the loose surface.

Manoeuvring between the front seats, Agent Fowler got a foot on the break bringing them to a swift halt. Immediately he yelled out, "Now!"

Grabbing the crate containing the Predacon talon, June jumped from the vehicle. Fuelled by fear she ran without turning back. Dashing straight for the train carriages she hid behind them.

Also escaping the car, Fowler started to run.

"Well that's just grand," grumbled their previous captor. Transforming he took a few steps after Fowler, the human not yet having gotten far. Picking him up, Knock Out brought him up to his face. "Did I say grand? I meant totally _rude._"

The Agent pulled out the pepper spray, silently hoping it would work. Shielding his own face with an arm, he held out the can and sprayed the irritant into the mech's red optics.

"Gaahh! My optics!" he screeched, dropping the human to rub his burning optics.

Fowler fell to the ground with a grunt but quickly scrambled to his feet. He was not about to sit around to be captured again. Picking up the pace, he headed for the train carriages just as June had done.

Rubbing at his optics, which were leaking a little lubricant, Knock Out's pain slowly subsided. He paused to blink a few times, his blurred vision clearing. Seeing that his captives had gone into hiding and he was in less pain, his cockiness returned. "O, are we playing a human game now? Because I would be happy to teach you the Decepticon version, 'hide and go shriek.'" He chuckled menacingly, peering over a carriage.

Amongst the train cars the two humans hid from the mech, his heavy pede-steps giving away his position as he wandered around the train yard searching for them. With her back pressed against the metal surface of one of the carriages, June softly whimpered, wishing she had never come on this 'milk run' as she clutched the crate tightly to her chest.

Meanwhile Agent Fowler crawled out from underneath one of the train cars after Knock Out had passed. Rounding a carriage, he searched for the dark haired woman, hoping to find her and escape with the bone before Knock Out got to them. In an effort to locate her sooner he called out in a whisper, "June? June? Where are you?"

Instead of June, he ran into the red mech. "Ah ha!" He uttered in triumph as he scooped up the agent. "Alright little lady, show yourself! Or I turn this snappy dresser here into a sloppy stain on the tarmac."

Huddled by one of the trains, June bit her lip suppressing a whimper. She did not know what to do and things were looking incredibly bleak. What on Earth had happened to Violetwind anyway?

~oOo~

The purple femme found herself driving out of town, hoping beyond hope that she was going the right way. The terrifying thought crossed her mind that Knock Out might have just ground bridged back onto the Nemesis and she was starting to think that was what had happened.

The disguised Autobot whined, feeling guilty for what had happened. She should have been able to protect them. "Why do I have to be so bad at this? "

_Beating yourself up over it isn't going to help anything._

"You sure?"

_Positive._

"Fine. What do I do then?"

Before Windy could reply, a comm link call came through. It was Jack and he sounded worried. **::**Violetwind?**::**

"Yeah, Jack?" She replied hesitantly.

**::**What's happening? Where's my mom and Agent Fowler? Why can't I reach them?**::**

_Slag, what are you gonna tell him?_

**::**What was that?**::** The boy sounded confused.

"What was what?"

_What's that kid going on about now?_

**::**Violet, is someone with you?**::**

"No." The femme was a little confused. "It's just me."

**::**Are you sure? I thought I heard another voice.**::**

"I think I would know if someone was here."

_Of course you would. What does he fragging think you are? Blind? _

**::**What? Seriously, who is that?**::**

_You don't think..._

_No..._

**::**Violet?**::** the boy was a little worried about the lack of response. He was sure there was another voice on the line. Did she not hear it?

The other two were starting to get an idea on what Jack might have been hearing. Deciding to test it out Windy jumped in. _Jack! Knock Out's got your mother and Fowler!_

**::**What?! Why didn't you stop him?!**::**

"I tried! It wasn't my fault! I'm sorry! I'm really sorry!" Violetwind blubbered, starting to sob even while still in vehicle mode.

_Interesting... And stop sobbing. Pay attention to where you're going, you're veering off the road. _

The femme sniffled, straightening up her course without protest.

_But she's right, Jack, _Windy continued, _it's not her fault. Knock Out got the best of us with his rotten zappy stick. _

On the other end of the line, the teen was really confused. There was definitely another voice but it was not one he recognised. ::Is there another Bot with you?::

_You could say that..._

"Wait, so you can actually hear Windy?" she asked in surprise, forgetting about what had happened earlier and being upset over it.

**::**Windy? As in the other Violetwind?**::**

_That would be me. _

**::**But, isn't she supposed to be trapped in your head?**::**

"Yeah."

_But not without communication. Seems I can drop in on comm calls. Interesting. A most unexpected turn of events. _

"Is it as weird for anyone else as it is for me?"

_Yep. _

Jack was silent.

_Hey, Jack you alright over there?_

"Jack?"

**::**Violet?**::** the voice sounded younger than that of the human they had been talking to.

"Raf? Is that you? What happened to Jack?"

**::**He just muttered something about his mom being taken and Wind talking and handed me the phone. He's gone to sit down.**::**

"Oh, um... Oops."

_Humph, what's his problem?_

**::**Vi?**::**

"Ah, Raf, this is Windy. Seems she can be heard during comm calls."

**::**Wow! This is amazing news! Wait till I tell Ratchet. He'll be so interested. And we can talk to you too.**::**

_Well, don't expect me to get all chatty to the rest of you. _

"Yeah, we probably don't need to let Ultra Magnus know what you think of him..."

The boy on the other end of the line chuckled lightly before being cut off by a shout in the background, **::**This is serious!**::**

"Jack?" she left the rest of the question unasked.

**::**Mhmm.**::** the boy responded. **::**So what happened?**::**

"Well, Agent Fowler and June went to get the bone and then Knock Out arrived and he, well, he knocked me out. When I came to, they were all gone. I'm kinda trying to find them at the moment." Violetwind explained as best she could keeping it short.

_Actually we finished the last part. There's Knock Out and he's got Fowler. What luck. We've gotta go. _

Training her sensors the way her inner counterpart directed she also saw the red mech, the man held captive in his fingers.

"Raf, see if you can get hold of someone to give me a hand. I have a feeling I might need it..."

**::**Good luck!**::**

"Byes," she clicked off the comm link, hoping she would be able to do this.

Racing forward, she heard him talking to the air but could not quite make out what he was saying. It didn't matter, though. She was there to get Agent Fowler and June back. She transformed and stood there, not sure if she should approach, door wings perked in anticipation. Finally she took a deep breath and clenched her fists, calling out in her most forceful voice, "Put the human down, Knock Out."

Rather than comply, he simply turned to face her with a smirk. "Oh look who just turned up. More for the party." He looked over at Fowler, "And I don't think so. He's my insurance that I get what I want. So back off if you don't want to mop up your friend here."

The femme did not move, optic ridges narrowing in a glare as she growled "Where's June?"

Knock Out was not phased, taking a few steps to the side to lean on a train carriage. "Well, I was just giving the little lady an ultimatum; bring out my talon or it'll be the last she sees of her boyfriend."

The femme's spark beat heavily in her chest, a tight feeling of worry surrounding it. Glancing at Agent Fowler she knew she could not risk his life. She could only hope June had gotten away. With a small vent of defeat she took a step backwards.

"Violetwind, forget about me. Get June and get back to base," ordered the special agent. He was not about to let the Decepticon's add another Predacon clone to their army.

"But..."

"Do it!"

"Well you're no fun," the mech groaned. "But, I suppose if you really don't care about his life..."

The train Knock Out was leaning against started to move, the mech stumbling a little, arms flailing before rightening himself. In his hand, Agent Fowler appeared a little green, like he would be sick.

_We need to do something._

_But what? I'm open to ideas._

For the moment she was saved from having to come up with anything. As the carriages rolled away they revealed June holding the crate and she looked upset. "Ok first; not my boyfriend!" she yelled up at their enemy, "And second; you're not laying a metal digit on him!" The woman threw down the crate, the wood splintered and broke apart; but it was empty. "Not if you ever want to see your precious talon again."

The mech scowled, rushing forward to grab her with his free hand. June turned to flee but she was not quick enough to escape, being easily scooped up.

"Noo!" Violetwind shouted jumping towards them, wanting to do something.

"Ah, ah, ah," warned the mech, "unless you want to see them hurt, not another step."

The femme immediately froze in her tracks.

Satisfied that she was not coming any closer, Knock Out turned his attention to the woman, "Where is it?"

"Leave her alone!" shouted Agent Fowler, still wishing to protect her. It was his fault she was even there.

She struggled in his grip but eventually stopped, unable to free herself. Staring with defiance up at the Decepticon she answered, "I hid it on a train car. Let us go and I'll tell you which one."

"Come on, Knock Out. Do as the lady asks and we'll leave you in peace. Please," the purple femme added, trying to sway the mech.

He ignored her plea, glancing around at the carriages around him. Suddenly his gaze turned to the retreating train and a smile appeared on his face. "Try as you might you can't con a Con."

Following his gaze, it dawned on Violetwind what he meant. "That train car..."

_She should have hid it in one of the ones here and then indicated that it was on the leaving train. Now that would have been better. Send him off on a wild cyber-duck chase. _

_Is that like a wild goose chase. _

_Yep,_ came the smug reply.

Transforming down into his vehicle mode, Knock Out trapped his captives in the rear seat, belting them in tight. Revving his engine he raced after the train.

"Oh, come on!" changing into her own vehicle mode, Violetwind raced after the mech.

She could hear the Decepticon medic taunting his captives, "Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy ride."

Struggling in their seats, Agent Fowler and June tried to free themselves. However, their efforts proved fruitless.

"Oh wait, you can't _unfasten_ your belts. My bad."

"Knock Out, you won't get away with this!" yelled the femme as she pulled up behind him.

"But I think I will. It's been really nice catching up with you. I hope we'll get the chance to do it again some time. I do so like beating you in a fight."

"Yeah, well..." she spluttered having no comeback, "You won't get away with this!"

The mech only laughed at her pathetic efforts. "You've already said that one."

Just then a ground bridge opened up behind the femme and out drove Arcee and Wheeljack. Her help had arrived. Maybe now they could actually stop Knock Out and get the humans back.

Seeing that he was outnumbered, the mech called back to base again, getting through this time. "Knock Out to Lord Megatron, please come in."

**::**Knock Out, do you have the Predacon bone?**::** the Decepticon leader's gravelly voice entered his audios.

"In my sights, my liege," he answered, "as are a trio of Autobots riding my rear."

**::**Understood. Just make sure you secure the specimen.**::**

"Violetwind, where are June and Fowler?" Arcee asked as she pulled alongside the purple femme.

"I... Knock Out's got them," she replied shamefully.

"We'll get them back," the two wheeler assured her.

Another ground bridge opened up, this time not from the Autobots. Four insecticons flew out. They targeted the convoy following the red mech, firing shots at the trio.

Transforming, Wheeljack leapt into the air. Taking the swords from his back he sliced through two of the metal bugs in a spectacular display of skill. He then transformed back into vehicle mode before his pedes touched the ground. The insecticons proceeded to crash to he ground on either side of him.

Violetwind could only watch her rear-view mirror in amazement; the feat had not taken more than ten seconds. "Wow..."

_He's good. _

The femme was very glad she was not alone. She knew she would never have been able to take them on by herself.

"Keep driving," shouted Arcee firmly.

"Why would I-" she broke off as the blue femme jumped up, returned to robot mode and landed on her roof. Not having expected the ride along, she swerved slightly before getting herself under control again.

"Hey, watch it," warned her passenger.

"Sorry..."

Bringing out her blasters, Arcee fired at the remaining insectacons. One hit its target just before it flew into a metal structure, resulting in a fireball explosion from which Violetwind could feel the heat on her rear bumper.

The final bug escaped, still coming after them. Diving down, it side-swiped Arcee, knocking her right off Violetwind's roof.

"Arcee!" she shouted, already putting on the breaks to go back for the femme.

"I'm fine. Get Fowler and June!" the femme yelled at them.

With a small whine, Violetwind kept going, Wheeljack right behind her. She felt a little guilty for leaving the femme behind but would do as she was told. They were right behind Knock Out now, almost within reach.

"You can do this, little femme," encouraged the Wrecker, though she could hear a sly grin in his voice.

There was no time to respond as Knock Out raced up the embankment beside the train lines and transformed. "Here's where you get out." His two human occupants started to fall, his transformation dropping them from his cab.

Speeding up underneath them, the Autobot mech changed into robot mode to catch Agent Fowler and June. Before he could crash into the ground, he had transformed around the pair. Landing on his wheels he skidded to a stop. "All up to you now."

"Great..." Violetwind muttered in response, nervousness welling up in her like a spring and coiling around her spark.

_We've come this far. We can do it,_ encouraged Windy.

By now Knock Out had grabbed onto the side of the coal car and was reaching in for what she presumed must have been the Predacon talon. Not about to waste her final chance to make good on her uselessness so far, she too made a transformation leap, arms outstretched towards the red mech.

"Ah ha," muttered Knock Out in triumph as his fingers grasped the bone. Though he did not have the chance to revel in his victory.

The femme's flying leap cut him off, ramming into him. He lost his grip on the train carriage and they both fell, crashing to the ground in a tangled heap. Arms and legs entwined, as they tumbled over one another. Ultimately being the lighter of the two, Violetwind ended up on top as they finished rolling.

"Hey! Watch the paint!" shrieked the mech as soon as they had stopped. "You fragging little..."

The femme groaned, pain shooting through all her limbs, her sensitive door wings screaming the most protest. She quickly realised where she lay and flushed, scrambling to get up. Her erratic movements only served to further scratch the vain mech's finish.

"Stop!" He shoved her off to save what was left of his paint job. "Look what you've done!" Knock Out yelled as he got up, indicating to his scratched up finish. Flashing her a glare he stepped towards her.

Frightened by the fierceness in his optics, Violetwind whined and took a fearful step backward. Suddenly she deeply regretted her decision to attack the mech.

"You're gonna pay for this!" His yelling was unable to continue as he noticed Arcee and Wheeljack racing their way. Immediately his tune changed as he took a few steps away, "Lord Megatron, if a ground bridge doesn't open up _tout suite,_ your specimen will belong to the Autobots!"

"Noo!" The femme yelled making a grab for the bone.

He easily dodged and she fell, tasting the dirt as a ground bridge opened up beside them. "And that's my ride. You better watch out next time we meet, Violetwind. I won't forget this!"

Before the others could arrive he darted into the vortex and a second later it was gone.

Picking herself up, she looked over at the pair before dropping her gaze. "I'm sorry guys..."

"Are you alright?" asked Arcee with concern, transforming to help her he rest of the way up.

"That was a mighty brave move there," commented Wheeljack, remaining in his alternate mode.

"More like crazy," scolded the femme, sending the mech a look to not encourage such behaviour.

"I'm fine, I think," Violetwind assured them, dusting off some dirt and gravel. "But he got away with the bone..."

"As long as we got June and Fowler," Arcee tuned to Wheeljack. Her optic ridge raised in suspicion as she looked into the mech's interior but did not see the humans. "Where are they?"

"In back," he replied simply, popping open his boot to reveal the two humans.

Both of them let out a sigh of relief as they climbed out, Wheeljack transforming once they were clear.

"I don't want to see the inside of another trunk as ling as I live," muttered June albeit with a smile.

"Did you get the talon?" Fowler questioned.

"No," Arcee muttered while Violetwind shook her helm.

The man let out a huff, "So the Cons got another one."

"We got you two back. That's the main thing." The blue femme did not want to think of the worry Jack would have gone through if Knock Out had gotten away with the boy's mother _along_ with the Predacon bone. Lifting a hand to her helm she called back to base. "Ratchet, can we get a ground bridge?"

Almost at once the swirling blue green vortex opened up beside them. Arcee nodded towards it, "Let's get out of here."

"I bet there's a worried boy for you back at base," wrapping an arm around June's shoulders, Agent Fowler gently coaxed her towards the ground bridge. They were closely followed by Arcee.

Trailing after them more slowly, Violetwind rubber her elbow, the pain of having landed on it flaring up. It was not he pain that really bothered her though, it was the fact she had been standing right there and let Knock Out get away with the talon.

"What's with the long face, Vi?"

The femme's head whipped around to look at Wheeljack in surprise. Biting her lip she debated about answering but ultimately she turned her gaze away and spoke, "Knock Out got away with the Predacon talon and it's all my fault... I- I should have been able to stop him. I've failed everyone..."

"Hey, success on a mission isn't whether you did what you set out to do but whether you all came out of it. I've lost enough friends to know that." He grinned, as she shot him another look of surprise.

Before she could answer they stepped into the base. Arcee and Wheeljack moved off to talk. Meanwhile Jack been waiting for their arrival and immediately rushed over, "Mom!" Mother and son embraced each other tightly, relief flowing over them. "Are you alright?"

Releasing him, she smiled a little, "The milk run turned a little sour but Bill and I are just fine."

Putting an arm around the woman, Agent Fowler smiled warmly and started to move her away, "Come on, June, sit down."

Jack was left staring after them in shock. "Bill?"

Violetwind was just noticing that Ultra Magnus and Bulkhead were back, as well as Miko, the girl coming up to the surprised Jack. She was about to greet the bold teen when Ratchet reached her side, hands on his hips. He looked very upset.

"I don't know how you do it! You're always the one who comes back with more damage than anyone! Do you make it your goal to get hurt?" He started to usher her over to their medical area. It was not much, just an upright berth and a computer terminal but it was all they could manage with so little resources.

"I didn't do it on purpose..." she muttered softly. "I just took a bit of a tumble."

_Not one of your best ideas. _

The medic pointed at the berth. "You. Now." He ordered firmly, not about to take any protests.

Yet she still hesitated and he raised an optic ridge in impatience. "Ratchet, you're not gonna scan my head are you?"

The medic cursed inwardly. He had been hoping to take the opportunity to do just that, thinking that he might be able to get away with it while her attention was elsewhere. Sighing he realised it would have to wait. She was still concerned about keeping it secret. For now he would just patch up her body. "No. If it'll get you on here, I promise to not scan your head."

She smiled a little, "Thanks, Ratchet." Moving over, she settled herself on the berth, letting the medic know where she was the most injured.

As Ratchet got to work she admitted with a little fear, "I don't think I ever want to see Knock Out again. He was really mad about what I did to his finish."

He snorted, "If he looks anything like you, I'm not surprised."

"And he does..." The femme lay back and let Ratchet work, thinking it might not be so bad to keep practising her fighting. Every time she left the base, it felt like something happened to her. She needed to learn to protect herself better.

"Oh Ratchet," she thought of something, hoping Raf had not told him yet, "We found out something interesting today..."

The mech raised an optic ridge, "O really?"

"Mhmm, apparently Windy can be heard comm link calls."

"What!"

* * *

><p>Hehe Knock Out, you're fun to have around.<p> 


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Not long after Ratchet began fixing up the damage Violetwind had endured during her tumble with Knock Out, Optimus Prime's group returned. The three mechs walked in covered with oil stains. Glad to see them back and hungry for more news, the medic and his patient joined the other Bots who gathered around to greet them.

"So, what took you so long?" Arcee asked with a smirk, directed at the two younger mechs.

_'We had to help clean up some of the damage Shockwave did to the drilling machinery,'_ Bumblebee explained, trying to wipe the lubricant off his arm.

"What about the Predacon bone?" Ratchet looked over at them expectantly, hoping that more than one group had succeeded.

Optimus heaved a deep sigh, showing the Predacon bone he possessed. "Unfortunately the Decepticons managed to claim a fragment of the bone."

"Yeah, that rotten Soundwave pulled one of his 'relocation tricks' on the bone; bridging it away before Optimus could catch it," Smokescreen added, kicking at the floor in annoyance.

The Prime surveyed the room, not missing the new addition to their bone collection, or that June had arrived, nor did he miss the fact that Violetwind was injured. "What has occurred during my absence? Was there trouble?"

"You could say that," muttered Wheeljack with a nonchalant shrug.

Ultra Magnus sent the mech a glare for being rude before filling in their leader. "Optimus, Sir, I would like to report the retrieval of a Predacon bone by Arcee and Wheeljack. However, pur mission failed to achieve its directive as did Agent Fowler and Violetwind's."

"Vi? I thought you didn't want to go on missi- Vi! What happened to you?" Smokescreen's optics widened with concern as he caught sight of the femme. Stepping over to her, he glanced over the damage, shocked by its extent.

She tried to smile and reassure him, "I'm fine, really. Just a bit of a run in with the ground."

The femme suddenly received a light slap on the shoulder. Turning her head she was surprised see Wheeljack. The mech grinned down at her, "This gal took a daring leap at Knock Out. She woulda had him too if he hadn't darted off like a frightened retrorat. Even still he was right fuming when he did. Ya shoulda seen the scratches on him!"

She flushed from the unexpected praise, something she felt was undeserved. "I'm sure if it had been anyone else, they would've done better."

"But they weren't there, you were, little spark."

Smokescreen raised an optic ridge at the nickname from Wheeljack but ignored it to ask, "What made you go anyway, Vi?"

"Other than Ratchet, I was the only one here. Everyone else was out on a mission. But it wasn't supposed to have any trouble. I was just driving Agent Fowler and June out to collect the bone."

Looking down at her with gentle optics Optimus nodded. Turning his gaze to the rest of the team he spoke, "We may not have accomplished all that we wished to, Autobots but we have made progress in stopping Megatron's cloning programme and we _will_ stop him from unleashing his beasts. For now, take some rest. Each of you have earned it for your efforts this day."

They started to disembark from the small meeting when Fowler shouted, "Hey you three! Prime and the muscle cars! Out! And get yourselves cleaned up before you traipse any more of that oil on my floors."

"Of course, Agent Fowler," replied Optimus, leading the way out to wash off the substance.

"Awww man," grumbled the rookie as he followed.

Bumblebee beeped playfully, _'A little more work before you get some recharge isn't going it offline you.' _

The younger mech rolled his optics his reply lost as they left he hanger.

"Alright, back to the berth with you," ordered Ratchet, pointing in its direction.

Nodding, the purple femme lay back against the metal slab in order for the medic to continue his work. Exhausted from the days events, she soon fell into recharge.

~oOo~

Later that night, while the rest of the Bots were resting or otherwise busy, Ultra Magnus and Optimus stood off to the side.

"I am glad you are here with us, Ultra Magnus. I believe we have a difficult struggle ahead of us. We are already outnumbered and Megatron will only adding more to his ranks with the Predacon clones"

The mech looked to his commanding officer, gruffness in his voice, "I only wish there was more I could do. The Decepticons appear to have collected more than enough Predacon bones to amass an army. We are merely on borrowed time until it comes into fruition."

Optimus let out a deep vent, "That is true, but we must keep vigilant to do what we can until that time. Perhaps even find a way to destroy it, given the chance."

His companion nodded. A moment of silence passed before Ultra Magnus spoke again. "Optimus, what do you say of Smokescreen and Violetwind?"

The taller mech shot him a look of surprise, not sure where he was going by mentioning them. "They are both worthy additions, with strong sparks. I do not believe I understand your reason for questioning..."

He received a grunt in response. "It's just... I question their resolve. They act like younglings just sparked. Do they not realise that we are in a war and have no room for delinquency?"

Curiosity hid behind Optimus' calm optics. "Is there a reason you are bringing this up?"

Ultra Magnus dropped his gaze recalling the recent incident between the pair. "They are proving more troublesome than they ought and appear to have no respect; lying right to my face. They were clearly engaged in nonsensical activity before Smokescreen fell into the energon crates and not 'sparing practice' as they told to me. And Violetwind herself, being one of the planet natives... I am unsure of her role in our war."

Hiding a smile of amusement, the mech replied, "Are you saying there were simply enjoying one another's company? Is such a thing so harmful? They are still young and have both endured more than they should for their age. Allow them to retain some innocence."

Scoffing in reply, Ultra Magnus opened his mouth to speak but closed it again thinking better of it. Although he did not agree with the Prime's calm demeanour towards it, he did not feel it his place to protest. "Perhaps..."

"As for Violetwind, you know she chooses to be here."

"And are you sure she should be?"

Optimus glanced over at the femme as she slept between Bulkhead and Arcee in vehicle mode. "I do," He paused looking back over at Ultra Magnus. "Simply keep an optic on our young pair, but do try to not be too harsh on them. They may not posses much experience but I am certain they have great potential."

~oOo~

Violetwind sat on the platform next to the Predacon bones as she tinkered with one of Ratchet's small machines. It was a simply device to test any Synthetic Energon they created. The medic seemed to spend all his time trying to figure it out and the femme was beginning to wonder if it was even possible. It felt like very little progress was being made despite all the time spent on it.

However, for the moment her thoughts were elsewhere. Agent Fowler had ok'ed the email to her parents and allowed it to be sent off. The anticipation of receiving a reply filled her with excitement. She knew Raf would inform her as soon as the message came through but she was restless during the waiting. Thoughts of her failure the previous day invaded her mind, poking at her excitement.

_'Doing alright over here?'_ The voiceless scout walked over to her, startling her from her thoughts.

Looking up from her work the purple femme put on a smile. "Yeah, doing just fine..." Dropping her head she frowned, "Could've done without yesterday's events though. But, I guess that's just life. And, I survived. So that's a good thing."

Bumblebee chirped with amusement. _'Couldn't we all. Wasn't the greatest day for many of us but we all made it and we'll get those Cons yet.'_

Putting down her work, Violetwind turned to face him. "Shame we all couldn't have done a little better." She gave a little huff, "Ya know I almost had Knock Out. Twice! I guess I'm just not suited to this." Her gaze wandered over to the bots in the hanger, her door wings sagging. "Sometimes I wonder what I'm doing here..."

On the other side of her mind she could tell Windy felt uncomfortable, still a little guilty about what had happened and for the state of her situation. Yet, her inner companion remained silent.

Violetwind let out a silent apology to her friend, it had not been her intention to upset her other half.

_'Hey, don't talk like that,'_ the mech beeped. _'You're here because you're _ment_ to be here.'_

She turned her head back to look at him, her blue optics conveying her uncertainty. "I'm only here because of an accident, Bee. Not because I possess any remarkable skills. Wrong place, wrong time... A terrible coincidence."

Sitting down beside her, the black and yellow mech stared back at her with soft optics. _'Someone once said there are no such thing as coincidences and I think it's no coincidence that you're with us now. You just need to find your place.'_

Letting out a sigh, the femme dropped her head. "That's easier said than done."

Bumblebee let his own helm sink as he tried to come up with a way to encourage her. After a few seconds of silence, he happily lifted his gaze to her again, _'I believe there was something said by an old turtle on one of the films Raf watched with me about a panda. Something about pasts and tomorrow's and the now.' _

Smiling a little she recalled the scene. "It was, 'Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why they call it the present.'"

_'See, already good at something. She's got a good memory.'_ His words briefly brought a full smile to her face, before it fell away, so he continued, _'And isn't that what you should be doing too. Seeing each day as a gift. Using each moment to the best of your abilities.' _

Glancing at him, Violetwind offered a smile of appreciation. "Thanks, Bee. You're worth keeping around."

_'And don't you think otherwise!'_ he scolded.

"Wouldn't dream of it. You're like family."

_'Good, cause family means I can so this,'_ quickly he wrapped an arm around her neck and with the other he gave her a noogie.

"Hey, stop that!" she protested, trying to protect her helm as well as struggle to get free. "Stop..."

The mech chirped in chuckle like way but kept going. _'If you want it to stop you'll have to escape.' _

"No fair," she whined, pulling at the arm around her neck.

"You're not being too hard on her, are you?" came a teasing voice. The pair looked up to see Smokescreen grinning at them. "You should be glad Ultra Magnus is still out on patrol. I don't think he'd approve."

_'No he wouldn't, but he's not here right now so...'_ He continued to gently rub away at the femme's helm.

"Hey, no! Smokescreen, help me!" Violetwind called out, still trying to resist the scout's 'attack.' Although the action did not hurt it her, it was incredibly annoying.

"I donno, I'm sure you can handle it," he grinned at her. "But, maybe I could help a little." Stepping forward the blue mech reached over to grab hold of her wrists. Holding on tightly he pulled them away from where she was trying to stop Bumblebee.

"Hey, that's not helping!" she protested.

He chuckled playfully, "Is too. It's helping Bee."

The mech beeped in agreement.

"No fair, you're both bigger than me!"

A small figure walked up to the trio calling up, "Sorry to interrupt, but Violet your reply has come back."

They all paused to look down at Rafael, Bumblebee slowly letting the femme go, Smokescreen doing the same.

_'The one from her parents?'_

The boy nodded.

"You're a life saver, Raf. Such great timing," Violetwind smiled as she gave each of the mechs a light hit. "That's for ganging up on me."

The blue mech laughed, "You loved it."

Standing up she turned back to face him, a teasing light in her optics. "You try that again and you'll end up like Knock Out."

"You just try," Smokescreen taunted, a wry grin on his face.

Whirring, the scout raised his hands defensively, _'Whoa now, I'm not gonna mess with that.' _

The rookie bumped the mech on the shoulder, "Come on, two against one, I bet we can take her."

Violetwind huffed, "That's not even fair."

Grinning in amusement, Rafael added his own opinion as he readjusted his glasses, "Maybe Arcee should join Violet? It'd be a much fairer fight. Femmes verses mechs."

"Now that's an idea. I like that, Raf. Nice thinking," the femme smiled down at the boy.

"Aww come on, really?" whined Smokescreen.

Nodding she glanced back at Rafael. "Let's leave these two and check out that email."

_'Hope it's good news,'_ the scout waved.

"We'll be here if you need us," the blue mech added.

The human and femme walked off, headed for the human's area where Rafael had left his laptop. Sitting back down at he table, he turned the computer screen so Violetwind could read what the email said.

_Dear Victoria, we are happy to hear that your are doing well. We have to admit that we were getting a little worried after not having heard from you for so long. Then when we were contacted by that official government man, we thought the worst until he explained what you were doing. It's exciting to know our baby is doing something she loves and we wish you all the best for your project research. It's also great to know that you're making friends with your colleagues. There's nothing worse than not getting along with the people you work with. _

_We've made plans to head down to your place next week and pack up your things like you asked. Your father has already arranged some space in the attic for the boxes. As for the larger items be sure to let us know what you want to keep and whether we should throw them away or sell them. We'll figure something out. _

_We have some news too. Joseph has moved. He now lives on a small island off Maine doing odd jobs. He seems to love it there, apparently there's always something to fix so he's kept busy. _

_So keep safe, dear. We love you. Mum and Dad. _

Rafael broke the silence that followed after she had finished reading. "Do you want to reply now? And who's Joseph? "

The femme nodded, "Yes." She paused, momentarily thoughtful, remembering what Windy had told her about her family. "He's my older brother." Her spark became weighed down, full of longing and thinking about how great her parents sounded. She really wished she could remember them for herself.

_I wish I had known people like them. They seem like really genuine people. _

_They do._

_You think Agent Fowler would let us go see them? Like just from afar. _

_Only way to know is to ask... _

~oOo~

Violetwind and Rafael spent some time working on a reply. Soon enough they had come up with an email that would satisfy Agent Fowler and not give away any important information or cause any suspicion.

Once they had finished, she had explained her desire to see her parents to the special agent but he was not responding they way she had hoped.

"There's no way in Uncle Sam's beard that you're going! We already have enough trouble keeping everyone's existence under wraps and now you want to go gallivanting off to visit civilians? No, Violetwind. I forbid it. I don't need any more hassle." The man was adamant looking up at her from the walkway, "So, no. You're not going!"

"But, Fowler, please. I'll take one of the kids, I won't be a car roaming about by itself. Please," she whined, not wanting to give up on the matter.

"I said no, and that's final."

_Slagging Fowler._

Stomping a pede she glared down at the man, a low growl in her throat. "No one will even notice me! And I highly doubt the Cons will be there this time. They don't even know my parents have any connection to us!"

"And we're going to keep it that way! You're better off just using the emails to contact them. They'll be a lot safer that way!"

The femme huffed with displeasure but knew when she was beaten. With a low rumble she stormed off into a corner were she transformed into her alternate mode facing the wall.

"Just like taking care of children..." muttered Fowler, waking back into his office.

"Hey, Vi? I'm sure you'll get to go see them someday," Smokescreen grinned tried to offer some hope as he came up behind her.

"Go away," she grumbled, not moving.

He tilted his helm in confusion. "Hey, what's up with-"

"I said leave me alone!" the femme snapped.

Taken off guard, he stood in silence, letting a few seconds tick by. It wasn't like her to be so quick-tempered. Eventually he moved again, taking a step away, figuring that she probably just needed some space. "If that's what you want. But I'll be here if you need me."

"I won't."

Letting out a small sigh, Smokescreen turned around and slowly walked off. His spark felt heavy from the rejection, not understanding why she had been so cold. It hurt to be turned away in such a harsh manner. Now he knew a how she must have felt during their one and only fight when she came after him. It was not pleasant.

~oOo~

Hours passed and it grew late into the night. It saw Optimus Prime briefly return from patrol only to head out again. Ultra Magnus also returned during that time. He remained at the base, however, sending Smokescreen out in his stead. Bulkhead and Arcee also returned to switch places on patrol with Wheeljack and Bumblebee.

During this time everyone left Violetwind alone in the corner to recharge, or so they assumed. In reality, the femme was watching everything, a plan forming in her mind. She _was_ going to get to see her parents and nobody could stop her.

_Are you sure about this?_ questioned Windy with concern.

_Very sure. _

_Ok then. Ratchet's finally in recharge along with Magnus and Arcee leaving only Bulkhead to deal with._

_Good._ She had been starting to think the medic was going to pull another all nighter and prevent her from pulling off her plans, but now that he was asleep...

Doing her best to keep quiet, she transformed and turned around to see where the remaining mech was. With his back to her, Bulkhead was focused on one of the monitors, likely scanning for Decepticon activity.

Slowly she approached him, making as little noise as possible. Spotting one of Ratchet's wrenches, she picked it up and held it tightly with both hands. Although she felt a little bad for what she was about to do, it needed to happen.

Climbing the platform to give herself some height, she raised the wrench above her head. Violetwind paused for a moment in indecision but it was only that, a moment, and her features hardened. She brought the wrench down against Bulkhead's helm and he fell to the floor with a crash.

The femme held her breath, fearful that the noise might have woken someone. A few tense sparkbeats went by but there was only a few slight stirrings from the humans and Autobots. Having woken no one she allowed herself to relax.

Stepping around the unconscious green mech to get to the ground bridge controls, she dropped the wrench by his head and muttered, "Sorry about that, Bulk."

Quickly she input the coordinates and the ground bridge sprang to life. Giving a final glance around, Violetwind narrowed her optics, "I hope you'll understand. But, I have to do this..."

Transforming she slipped through the vortex letting it close behind her as she disappeared.

* * *

><p>Kung fu Panda quote, just because I can. Also obligatory Get Smart reference. 'sorry about that, chief.'<br>Planned this part out as one chapter but it did not happen and so will be split into two. Also, so not sorry about how the end played out. Was way more cliffhangery than I intended. But what's a little suspense after all. XD


	7. Chapter 7

Hi everyone!  
>I want to thank you all for reading this story. I have so much fun writing it and I makes me happy to know you enjoy it too. However, there will be no updates for the next month as I embark on taking on the National Novel Writing Month challenge to write 50,000 words in 30 days. I won't have time to do editing on this story hence the delay with chapters. Hopefully, though, I shall come out of it with a third story for Violetwind and the rest of the Autobots. :D<p>

So have fun and hope the wait isn't too long for ya!

* * *

><p>Chapter 7<p>

The early morning sun was just rising over the east coast of America as a lone, purple Holden cruised over the highway towards her destination; the small town of Ocean City in New Jersey. Violetwind was headed for her parent's place.

As she drove her anxiety ebbed away and in its place her excitement grew. She was going to get to see her parents.

"This is so great!"

_Shhh, keep it down. We don't need to attract any fragging attention._

_Got it, sorry. _

She could feel her inner companion give her an internal shake of the head. _Well, at least your windows are slightly tinted and will make it harder for anyone to see that you're without a driver._

_Wish I could change the tinting on mine like KITT. That would be cool._

_'Cos being a alien robotic life form that transforms into a car isn't cool enough for you,_ Windy teased.

_Nah, needs to be about twenty percent cooler. _

The pair giggled in silly amusement, just enjoying the slight back and forth. It also felt so good to be out and about with no worries.

_We should take drives more often. This is nice. _

_It is. I'm still not sure about water but your oceans sure look impressive._

_Yeah..._ Silence dragged on for a short time before the femme asked, _Did we ever go to the beach as a family? My parents and my brother and me? _

_You did. And slag, it looked like you had some fun. I wish I could have been there too._

Violetwind let out a small whine, "Me too..."

Windy instantly realised what she'd done._ I'm sorry, Vi. I didn't mean to upset you with that. But hey, that's why we're going, to get some new memories of your folks._

_It is,_ she perked up, _so let's get there already!_

A rumbling noise was heard as she revved her engine and accelerated down the road. Forgetting about the speed limit, the vehicle zipped along, the waves lapping at the sand on one side and the green grass on the other.

They soon reached the town and found themselves in the residential area. Violetwind slowed down so they could read the street signs and Windy directed her to the right house. Finding the place, she pulled up on the other side of the street to wait.

The house her parents owned was of an average size for the houses of that area. Like most of the others, it was three stories high with a veranda around the front and side of the house, with a balcony above it. Around the other side of the building a single car garage connected to a driveway that led out the front. The house itself was located a street away from the coastline, a less than two minute walk from the shore.

_So now what?_

_We wait I guess. It's not like I can go and knock on the door..._

_Mmm, yeah, I don't that would go down too well,_ her partner agreed.

So they waited... And waited... And waited... Then finally their patience paid off. The garage door opened to reveal a blue Mercury Milan. Inside were two occupants, a man and a woman.

_There! It's them! It's them! That is them, isn't it?_ Violetwind rocked on her tires.

The car backed out of the driveway and they were able to get a better look at its occupants. A man with silver streaks in his hair from age was driving. A brown haired woman sat on the passengers side, wearing a flowery top.

_Calm down,_ Windy hissed. _That's them, let's follow._

Trailing after the blue car, Violetwind made sure to keep a good distance between them, ten to fifteen metres where she could. They soon led her to the shopping centre's carpark. Parking the car, the couple headed off to do some shopping. This was where the femme got her best look at the pair as she slowly drove around, following them as far as she could before they entered the building.

Huffing, she stopped by the curb. _Now what?_

_Looks like you'll have to wait._

_Scrap. Guess I'll just park right here then. Nobody will mind right? At least from here I'll see my parents as soon as they come out. _

Switching off her engine, she was glad it was a quiet day. With not many people around she was less likely to be noticed.

While she was waiting, Violetwind began to feel tired. After staying up to plan and then wait for everyone else to be busy or in recharge she had neglected to get any for herself. Only now were systems starting to feel the pressure.

_Maybe you'd better get some recharge._ Windy suggested, _I'm pretty sure they'll be a while._

_Maybe... _She fought off the tiredness. _But... _

However, it was a loosing battle. With the excitement over, sleep won out in the end and she fell into dreamland.

~oOo~

The purple femme was jerked awake as something touched her front axle. The surprise elicited a squeal of fright which she quickly cut short realising where she was. Spark beating heavily she glanced around to find out what was happening. Nearby stood two men with bright fluoro vests, one having just climbed out from under her front.

It was this man that spoke, "Did you hear something?"

"Yeah, bit of a screech. Did ya scrap the metal down there?"

He frowned at the thought. "No I didn't."

"Whatever. Just get in the truck. We gotta tow this car to the impound." The older man waved towards the tow truck now anchored to Violetwind's front.

"Yeah, yeah," replied the other as they headed for the cab, "I was there too ya know. I heard the officer. Don't need to repeat it."

_Oh scrap. Oh scrap. Oh scrap._ The femme whined in worry. She was about to be towed off. What was she supposed to do? Should she transform and run off? Violetwind quickly dismissed the idea; there would be too many witnesses. Worse, the Decepticons could catch wind of the stir it might cause and put her parents in danger.

The tow truck slowly started to yank her front end up till her wheels were off the ground. Fear and panic coursed though her. _Scrap, why did I have to go off alone..._

_I don't slagging know. We always end up in trouble!_

_Next time, can you do a better job at talking me out of things like this? _

_Hey, it's not like it was a bad idea! And besides, I'm not your conscience._

_Yeah, yeah, I know... _

The truck eased forward, driving away with Violetwind anchored to its rear. The femme wished she was in robot mode so she could burst into tears. This was not how she had envisioned the day to go. Not only was she currently in the custody of the local human authorities but they were also taking her away from her parents. She had been hoping for more of a look at them than that...

_Slag. I don't know how to get out of this. If we could fight I could easily help you with that but..._

The femme withheld her sobbing. _I understand. I guess, I'll have to call the others. _

_I don't think they'll be too pleased after what you did. Running away and all..._

_I know, but I don't think I have a choice unless I make a break for it. _

_You'd better not. We don't need to cause even more strife._

Taking a deep vent of air, Violetwind prepared to comm link back to base. She was certain that whoever answered would give her a chewing out for going AWOL but she had to do it and steeled herself for the reprimand.

~oOo~

Back at the base, the beeps of an incoming call interrupted Ratchet's work. Looking up from his task he recognised the caller just as they started speaking.

**::**Violetwind calling base. Violetwind calling base. Anyone there?**::**

"Violetwind, where have you fragging been?!" growled the medic.

The car shuddered from fright at the mech's anger. **::**R-R-Ratchet... Hi...**::**

Tapping his pede on the ground, he waited for an answer.

**::**Well, um, I can assure you I have a very good reason for being out...**::**

"I don't think there is any reason good enough for using one of my wrenches to whack Bulkhead on the helm. You dented it."

**::**Bulkhead's helm? Oh gosh, please tell him I'm so so sorry about that!**::**

"No! My wrench! I needed that..."

The femme was silent a moment trying to process what just happened. If she had been standing beside him, she would have giving him a half confused skeptical look.

Before it had a chance to sink in thought, Windy spoke up, **::**Ratchet, we don't have time for this. We need assistance.**::**

"Windy?"

**::**Yeah, it's me. I thought we went over this,**::** her inner companion was not amused.

"Hey, who's calling, Ratch? Is it Violet?" Smokescreen asked hopefully as he approached. He had been worried since they found out she was missing. Optimus had figured she would come back in her own time and so left her to her own devices for the time being.

Violetwind shifted uncomfortably, recalling how rude she had been to the blue mech but did not say anything.

Glancing at Smokescreen, Ratchet nodded, "It is."

Immediately he perked up, rushing the rest of the distance to the computer console. "Vi? What happened? Where are you? Are you alright?"

The medic shoved him aside with a glare. "If you don't mind."

**::**I'm- I'm fine. Well mostly. Um, I'm- I'm really sorry, Smoke. I was so rude before. I shouldn't have been. I don't know why I was so upset but I had no right to take it out on you. I'm sorry. Please forgive me?**::** Violetwind apologised, feeling guilty about the whole thing and hoping he would not hold it against her.

The mech let out a vent of relief, a smile slipping onto his face. "Course, I forgive you, you silly, femme. If that's why you left, just forget about it and come back."

**::**Um about that...**::**

**::**We've hit trouble and it starts and ends with the local law enforcement.**::**

"The police?" Ratchet raised an optic ridge in questioning.

The rookie held a similar expression, "What about them?"

**::**They... Started towing me away...**::** she replied.

"Oh great..." muttered the medic shaking his head.

"What?" the younger mech tilted his head in confusion.

**::**Um, I'm not quite sure but I guess that wasn't a parking space I stopped in. And now I'm being towed away and don't know what to do. That's why I called...**::** she explained, still a little flustered by her predicament. **::**What do I do?**::**

Smokescreen broke into a smile and laughed.

**::**It's not funny,**::** the femme whined.

"It isn't," Ratchet agreed, glaring at the chuckling mech.

"Actually, it is. Just a little," he returned still laughing. "You sneak out of base, taking down one of the biggest mechs in the process, and then get caught by the local humans for something like parking in the wrong place!"

**::**It's not _that_ funny,**::** muttered Windy dryly.

The heavy pede steps of their leader neared the pair. "What is happening?"

Hearing his voice through the comm link, Violetwind wished she could vanish, even if he could not actually see her at that moment anyway. Being swallowed up by the ground would surely be better than speaking to him.

"Violetwind is being towed away as we speak. She requires assistance," the medic explained to Optimus as his companion tried to stop chuckling.

"I see." Looking to the monitors he spoke to the femme, "Violetwind, remain in vehicular mode and maintain your cover."

With a tight feeling in her vocalisers she tried to gulp before she replied, **::**Y-yes, Optimus.**::**

"I believe you will require human assistance. Agent Fowler will be sent to your location."

**::**Yes, sir...**::**

"Violetwind?"

**::**Y-yes?"**::**

"What was your reason for leaving?" Optimus asked calmly, not a hint of accusation in his voice.

**::**Um, well, I-**::** she fumbled over her words, **::**I wanted so badly to see my parents but- but then Agent Fowler wouldn't let me go... He told me I could only have contact with them through the emails. But it wasn't like I was going to talk with them anyway! And...**::** Sobbing came through the call as she trailed off.

**::**Vi...**::** Windy tried to comfort the femme.

Optimus was quiet, thoughtful for a moment before he spoke. "Violetwind, while your actions may not have been well thought through, I understand your motives. Please remain calm. Your assistance will be there shortly."

Turing from the console, he lowered his voice, "Try to keep her occupied until Agent Fowler arrives. I will speak to him and you may then ground bridge him to Violetwind's location."

"Of course," Ratchet nodded, glancing at Smokescreen.

The younger mech nodded as well. "Yes, sir."

"Good." Optimus wandered off to go talk with Fowler, leaving them with Violetwind.

The special agent wandered out of his office after a few taps to the door. "What is it?" he grumbled up at the Autobot leader.

"Violetwind requires your assistance."

The man scowled. "What in the name of Lincon's horse has she gotten herself into?"

"It stands to reason it is a simple matter to do with the local authorities," Optimus told him.

He sighed, briefly closing his eyes as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "She went to see her parents, didn't she?"

"Yes, Agent Fowler. Ratchet will bridge you there, now."

"Alright. Let's go."

~oOo~

William Fowler stood outside the police impound. He shook his head and sighed, thinking for the umpteenth time that working with bots was one of the most challenging things he had ever done in his life. And, this one that used to be human was proving to be the most difficult of them all.

Nevertheless he could not leave her in there any longer. The African-American straightened his tie and walked up to the building. Entering, he quickly spotted the front desk and headed towards it.

"Special Agent Fowler," he showed his government card to the woman behind the desk, "Could you direct me to the person in charge of your car impound?"

"That would be Ronny. I'll buzz him and get him here," picking up the phone she pressed a button. "Ronny, there's someone here who wishes to speak with you." She paused as there was a response on the other end. "No, Ronny, I don't think I can do that. He's some kind of government agent." She paused again. "No, I don't think he'll wait." The woman rolled her eyes. "Alright, thank you."

Putting down the receiver she smiled up at Fowler. "He'll be right down. Feel free to just wait here."

The man grunted and wandered off a little to stare at some pictures on the wall as he waited.

It was not long before this 'Ronny' showed up. He had a tanned appearance with a brown beard and hair, grey speckled though it showing his age. He did not look happy about being disturbed. "Alright, what's goin' on?"

Stepping forward Fowler questioned, "So you're the man to see about the impounded cars?"

"Yes, that'd be me. Whadya want?"

"I believe you have a vehicle that's of interest to me. Would you mind if we went to have a look?"

Ronny looked him up and down, "Lisa said you're from the government. Let's see some papers then we'll see."

Fowler pulled out his ID card to show the man, who seemed somewhat satisfied after that. "Alright, I'll take you out back." He started to walk, turning back to tell Fowler, "But unless you got some sort of orders to take it I can't let ya have it."

They exited the rear of the building as Agent Fowler responded. "If that car is the one I'm looking for that you'll have to let me take it. I cannot leave without it. It's a vital part of a federal investigation."

"Well anyway, here we are. Quiet full at the moment really."

The parking lot out back had space for about ten cars, but only half of that was taken up making the government man's job easy. He quickly spotted Violetwind sitting between a red Chevrolet and a black van. Walking over he patted the bonnet (hood) and made a bit of a show inspecting the vehicle.

Violetwind had never been so happy to see Fowler as she did the moment he walked out the door. The towing people had been rough with her and this Ronny had not been kind either. He seemed to think himself some sort of 'car enthusiast' and had a poke around her engine, having been muttering about not seeing a car like her before and wanting to check out 'how she runs.' However, she had annoyed him by locking down her bonnet so he couldn't get in. He'd tried to force his way in but that had not worked. Much to her relief, the man had eventually given up.

However, now that Agent Fowler was there she could finally go home and leave this place behind her. So the femme waited patiently as he looked her over as if he was checking that she was indeed the car he was looking for.

Finishing his 'inspection' Fowler moved to stand beside the man in charge of the impound. "That's the car alright. I'll need to take it with me."

"I already said I can't let you do that. I need the proper paperwork before I can release it," Ronny replied firmly.

"And I said that it's needed for a government investigation. I need that car." Agent Fowler was growing extremely impatient with the man.

"And I'll tell you again-"

"No, you won't. You will go over to that gate. Open it up. And let me drive out with this vehicle. Do you understand? Cause if you don't, I'll have you thrown into some two bit cleaning job where you're unlikely to see the light of day. Got it?" he barked, not about to take any more excuses from the man.

Ronny gulped but nodded. "Yes. Yes of course. I'll got get the gate..." He scurried off do just that.

After seeing his outburst, Violetwind remained silent. She was not about to say anything that might earn Fowler's wrath. It was most likely she was already the cause of his stressed state.

With a huff, he wordlessly walked over to the driver's side, the femme opening the door for him to climb in. Turning on her engine she let Fowler have the controls and he took them out to the impound's gate, where Ronny stood holding it open.

Leaning out the window, the agent gave him a firm glare. "Now you'd better get this right or I'm coming after you. This car was never here. You never saw it. You wipe it from your records. You got that?"

"Yes, sir," he replied nervously.

"Good. I hope we don't meet again." With that, he drove off, leaving Ronny to wonder what had just happened.

After a few minutes of driving they were making their way out of town and the silence was getting to Violetwind. Clearing her vocalisers she nervously tried to speak. "A-agent Fowler... I'm really sorry..."

The man glared down at her and growled, "And so you should be! You had _no_ right to go against my orders. I told you you couldn't go visit your parents. You had no permission from your superiors to even _leave_ the base. By Uncle Sam's beard, Violetwind! Get your head into gear. We're in a war. We don't have time for gallivanting off about on joy trips!"

He continued to chew her out for a few minutes as she listened quietly, feeling very small indeed. Eventually though he deemed her reprimanded enough and with a sigh allowed her to call back to base for pick up.

They came though the ground bridge and were greeted by the Bots gathered around the entrance. Even the human children stood together on the closest walkway. Stopping she allowed Agent Fowler to get out before she transformed. Not willing to look at any of them, Violetwind stared at the floor, her door wings sagging. The femme wrapped her arms around herself, trying to think of something to say.

"All yours, Prime," called the man as he went back to his office, muttering a string of annoyances along he way.

Turning his attention back to the femme, Optimus was gentle, "Violetwind-"

"I'm sorry, Optimus," she interrupted, "I know I shouldn't have left..." Glancing up at Bulkhead she continued, "and I'm real sorry, Bulk, for knocking you out like that. I hope you're alright."

The green mech grinned. "Takes more than a little bump to hurt me."

She snorted and smiled a little but there was no joy behind it. Ignoring everyone else as they watched, she looked up at Optimus, feeling like she had betrayed his trust. Silently the femme cursed herself for having even thought of going rouge like that. "Please forgive me..."

Determining that she had received an audio full from Fowler, Optimus granted her mercy. "Violetwind, I ask that you do not make a habit of leaving without permission. Next time, if you are troubled, talk with someone. I, for one, am always ready to listen."

_'Same here,'_ added Bumblebee.

"Yes, Optimus," she lowered her helm like a scolded child "I think I'll just get some recharge for now, if that's alright?"

He nodded, "Of course."

Shuffling away, the femme transformed and parked over near one of the corners, trying to ignore the optics still watching her.

"You think she'll be ok, Optimus?" Smokescreen questioned the mech with concern.

He let out a deep vent before replying, "I do believe so. We must remember that what she is going through none of us could even hope to imagine..."

While the bots broke their positions and milled about, one turned back to his computer. Ratchet brought out the brain scans from behind his work on the Synthetic Energon. Letting out a frustrated sigh he looked over them again, noting the differences from those he had previously performed and the one from a few days ago. "What is going on with you now, Violetwind...?"

* * *

><p>I'm all over the references today! (well on the day I wrote it anyway, when I wrote the end of the last chapter too.) A nod to KITT from the 80's Knight Rider and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic right after that. And I managed to get Ratchet and wrenches in there. Hehe so happy.<br>Not gonna lie, I wanted to her parents to have a Ford Shelby GT500 in homage to the KITT from the '08 Knight Rider series but it was probs too sporty for them.

Have to admit, I had some fun using google maps to look around Ocean City. Was a little surprised that I took so little time to find where her parents were to live. Just knew I wanted them to be on the east coast of America and set off on google maps. Within a few clicks saw the name and thought it sounded interesting. Had a poke around, read the wiki and was in love. I want to go there for real now!

I'm really happy to be able to bring you this chapter. The core idea, with Violet being towed away, was an idea I came up with ages ago during work on the first story. I was going to use it as a short story but I'm glad I could implement it into this one. :D

**tl:dr = references, google maps, idea long wanted to be used, sorry for gushing**

See you in December!


	8. Chapter 8

Thank you to my readers and my faithful reviewers, AllSpark Princess, Steel autobot and ZabuzasGirl for your continued interest! 3  
>The wild month of writing called NaNoWriMo went well. I got so much done for the next story (making it to the 50,000 and therefore a win!) and am quite happy not needing to write at such a breakneck pace any more. Although I have so much editing to do now... (the second half of Battle of the Mind still requires an initial edit and this new one needs a lot fixed.) Good news is though, I'll be getting back to regularly posting up a new chapter each week!<br>But I'm sure you don't want to hear about that. So on with the story!

* * *

><p>Chapter 8<p>

A few days passed since Violetwind went off on her own. Ever since she returned she had been distant towards the other bots; mostly keeping to herself and only working with Ratchet when she was required to do so. Even then, she did not say much. Truth was she felt guilty for causing trouble. Thinking back she did not understand where such a drastic notion had come from. Yet, she'd done it anyway.

The femme sighed as she tried to put it out of her mind and focus on her task. Ratchet had her going over the Synthetic Energon formula again. He kept saying that if she was to help, she needed to know it as well as he did. So she sat their trying to learn what she could.

_Ugh, isn't there something else we could do? Like go for a drive? I'm fragging bored._

_I don't think Ratchet would approve, Windy._

_Slag. But we haven't left the base since- well, since we kinda ran off._

_I know..._ Violetwind shifted in her spot, uncomfortable about the reminder.

Her inner companion huffed, _Come on, I know I'm not the only one getting bored with this. Just tell him you know it, so we can move on._

_But I don't wanna lie... _

_It isn't lying. I know it therefore, you know it. Please..._ she whined.

The femme tilted her helm trying to ignore her friend's logic. Even if it was technically correct, it was a little dirty. _You've never been this bored before. What's up with you? _

Windy sighed, _It's just the first time I've started to feel slagging restless. Before you knew what I was I felt needed to be quiet. Plus I had our memories to sift through. But now-_

_Now you've had enough of that and want more,_ Violetwind smiled in amusement.

_Exactly! Come on, Vi, despite how our last trip ended (and began) we had a good time._

_For the most part. _

_Please._

_Windy..._ she scolded slightly, pausing as she noticed Ultra Magnus walk up to where she and Ratchet were situated.

Only glancing her way briefly, he addressed the medic. "Doctor, what is the current status of your Synthetic Energon experiments?"

"We are doing the best we can, commander, given the lack of functional equipment at out disposal," the orange and white mech replied.

"You do realise that an alternate energon source may be essential to our survival."

Ratchet sighed, doing his best to keep from being annoyed. "Believe me, Ultra Magnus," he turned to look at the bot, "no one is more acutely aware of the stakes than I am."

Raising an optic ridge, Ultra Magnus grunted softly, "Of course."

He glanced at Violetwind again. Feeling nervous under his gaze, the femme quickly dropped her head and got back to her task, making a little noise as she did so. Making another small grunt, he turned and walked over to where the others were logging a report at the main console.

Relaxing as he left, Violetwind glanced after him. "I feel a little sorry for Ultra Magnus. He seems a little out of place."

"What makes you say that?" Ratchet looked up from his work.

"Well," she tilted her head, watching as he spoke with the others, "he just doesn't seem to have a connection with anybody. And he _never_ relaxes."

_Maybe we should spike his energon,_ Windy suggested earning an optic roll from her companion.

"That's just his way," murdered Ratchet going back to what he was doing.

Wheeljack entered the hanger, earning a gruff reprimand from the commander. The femme just sighed sadly, thinking of how lonely it would be to be surrounded by Bots and yet have no friends among them.

All of a sudden a noise like a jet overhead alerted them to the return of their leader. Optimus landed outside the entrance, immediately gaining joyful welcomes from his team.

"See, even look at that. He's left behind as everyone goes to greet Optimus," she pointed towards Ultra Magnus as he stood alone.

"You're not up there," the medic commented, waving a finger at her.

"But I'm not alone, I'm with you," she returned.

_Hey, what about me._

"... And I have Windy."

The mech grunted, rolling his optics with a brief smile. "And how about the past few days?"

Letting out a breath, her door wings drooped and gaze dropped to the floor. "Well that's dif-"

She did not get the chance to say more as they heard Optimus speaking.

"Decepticon activity is at a low. I fear that Megatron may have collected the specimens he requires to..." Optimus trailed off, his optics staring over the heads of his team. He also noticed Ultra Magnus standing by himself, watching from afar. The mech looked out of place and likely felt it, causing a stir in the Prime's spark. "... Clone his army..."

_Slag, that's not good._

"That's bad news for us," Arcee muttered, folding her arms.

"But excellent news for the Cons," grumbled Smokescreen.

Slipping away from Ratchet, the purple femme got a little closer. Having distanced herself for a while now, she figured maybe it was time to be around the other Bots again. It would not do her much good to push them away forever and it would hopefully help entertain Windy to just be around them more.

"We need to smash 'em." the green mech banged his fists together.

"Bit hard, Bulk, when we don't know where they are," Wheeljack rested a hand on his friend.

_We could have more problems than a scraplet invasion if we aren't able to so something soon..._

_Bad right?_

_Slag yeah._

~oOo~

Standing at the hanger doors, Ultra Magnus watched the humans outside do their drills. It caused his thoughts to wander back to his time on Cybertron when he was training the Elite Guard before the war.

"Ultra Magnus."

The mech turned towards the deep voice, his gaze resting on Optimus as he approached.

"Something has been troubling you."

He withheld a sigh, feeling like that may have been the understatement of the vorn. "I fear my command style may have be having a negative effect on unit moral."

"Your service is most welcome, old friend," Optimus rested a hand on his shoulder in comfort. "But this is not the Elite Guard."

"Things have changed since the war for Cybertron."

"And we must adapt to that change. The members of Team Prime are not cogs in a machine." The mech turned to look fondly over at the Bots as they were gathered together, "They have grown into something greater than an army. They have become-"

Optimus was cut off as Ratchet called out, "Optimus! Our scanners have detected exposed enegon."

His faceplates darkened, dropping his conversation with Ultra Magnus for the time being. "With our reserves at a critical low we cannot afford not to investigate."

Glancing over at his companion he silently apologised for the interruption.

However, Ultra Magnus understood. Giving the leader a nod, he stepped forward, "Autobots, prepare to roll out!"

Seeing the others begin to prepare to leave, Violetwind felt a little lost and left out as they got ready around her. They grabbed weapons in preparation to raid the Decepticons. While they did so, the femme fingered the small compartment under the plating on her waist where she had taken to storing her immobilizing bombs. After the incident with Knock Out, she thought it wise to have something extra tucked away at all times.

Knowing how she felt, Windy urged, _Come on, go ahead. Ask if you can join them. If we stay, we'll both be fragging bored out of our minds._

_But fighting... _

_You've got the bombs. They're non lethal. Please,_ she pressed a bit harder.

Dropping her head, the femme sighed in defeat. "Alright. I'll see if we can."

Approaching Optimus, she wrung her hands together. "O-Optimus...?"

Hearing her soft voice call his name, the mech turned to look down at her, his curiosity hidden behind a blank face. "Is anything wrong, Violetwind?"

"Well, I was wondering if I could come too. I know I'm not the best at fights but-" she brought out some of her bombs, "I have these. And Windy's kept me safe so far. And..."

Hugging her arms to her chest, she lowered her optics. "And... I want to stop feeling like a liability... To earn my keep... I haven't been very helpful lately and I want to change that."

The request was unexpected, making it difficult for Optimus to respond right away. Slowly his mind accepted the proposal, believing that perhaps the femme could do with a confidence boost after all she had been through. With all of them going, except for Ratchet, there would be little chance of trouble.

After what seemed like an eternity to Violetwind and Windy, he replied. "I shall allow you to join us, if that is what you desire. You may accompany the Stealth Team," Optimus motioned towards Arcee, Bumblebee and Smokescreen.

_Woo hoo! Action and adventure, here we come!_

Smokescreen regarded her curiously but remained silent.

_'You're joining us, Vi? Great! And no need to worry, we'll keep you safe,'_ Bumblebee chirped.

"Just so long as you do your part when you roll with us. We don't have time to take on stragglers," warned Arcee, hands on her hips.

Nodding and moving closer, she replaced the immobilising bombs in her subspace. "I won't be any trouble. I promise."

"You sure you're up for this?"

Violetwind looked over at Smokescreen, hurt by the doubt in his voice but understood why he might feel that way. "I know I haven't exactly been welcoming to company as of late but... I..." She glanced at each of them, "I'm sorry for pushing you all away. I was kind of hoping that coming would help fix what I broke. I still want friends. Especially good friends, like you guys..."

The scout trilled happily, _'Of course. Like we could turn you away. I mean look at that cute face. It's too sweet.'_ Reaching over he playfully rubbed her helm, earning a grin from the femme.

Arcee rolled her optics but smiled. "What am I going to do with you?"

With a chuckle, she shrugged. "Love me?"

This earned a small laugh from the blue femme as she shook her head.

Noticing that Smokescreen's gaze was turned away, the femme whined softly. "Smoke?"

He did not respond, optics locked on the ground.

"You're not still sore about me leaving, are you?"

"No," the mech replied calmly, not looking at her.

_Go over to him._

Moving to his side, the femme touched his arm. Immediately his helm whipped around to look at her hand then to her, surprise in his optics.

Violetwind's lips trembled with a nervous smile, "Please. Don't you think we work better as a team? Nothing good ever seems to happen when _I_ try to do things alone. I end up in trouble or hurt or both. And I don't want to go without my friend this time..."

Slowly his stance relaxed. "Bee's right. Your face is too sweet. Besides," he smirked, "You might need me to pull your aft out of trouble again."

_Hahaha, this kid's great. We should keep him around.  
><span>_

Folding her arms, her optics narrowed as she did her best to appear unamused by his jest. "I swear, one of these days, it'll be _me_ saving _your_ tailpipe."

"We'll see," he grinned unconvinced, "Until then, you just keep believing that."

"You'd better watch it, Smoke. She might just do that," Arcee inclined her head with sly grin.

Putting an arm around both the purple femme and blue mech, Bumblebee whirred, _'Just try not make today a day where anybody's tailpipe's need saving.'_

She smiled, "Sure thing, Bee."

~oOo~

From their places hidden in the woods, the Stealth Team, plus Violetwind, could see the vehicons milling about the mine entrance. They watched as three troopers exited, each pushing a hovering cart of raw energon.

"Optimus, we're in position. Ready when you are," Arcee commed their leader.

**::**Once we have gained their attention, you may begin your assault.**::** came the reply.

"Yes, Sir." The call clicked off and the femme turned to the bots accompanying her. "We're about to go in."

They nodded and murmured in acknowledgement. Violetwind suddenly felt a nervous rising up in her about the situation. Now that she was out in the field, about to engage in an attack, she was starting to have second thoughts about coming.

_Just keep it cool, girl. We can do this. Just listen to little ol' Windy, she'll get ya through._

The femme cracked a smile. _You'd better._

_Don't you be fragging doubting me,_ Windy scolded. _Now, are your bombs ready?_

The purple femme removed the small metallic balls from her subspace. Rolling them around in her fingers she stared at them nervously. _Yep. _

_You know the plan?_

_Stick behind Bee and his shield. Toss a bomb at a group of Cons._

_Good. You're ready._

_Good, cause Optimus and the others have arrived._ Her gaze was focused on the cliff-side above the mine where the Wreckers stood alongside the Autobot leader.

"Decepticons, step away from the energon and surrender," he called down to them as a warning. His compassionate nature wanted to give them a chance before it came to a fight.

The vehicons glanced at each other before coming to an agreement and firing up at the Autobots. This was expected. In unison the three Wreckers leapt over the edge of the cliff in a charge.

Ultra Magnus wielded the forge, ready to hammer some troopers into the ground when he came within range. Meanwhile, Bulkhead carried a heavy gun already firing it into their enemies. Lastly, Wheeljack brought out his two swords. He tossed them at the Decepticons, spearing two on the first try. Not missing a beat, out came his whip. Swinging it around over his head, he propelled it forward to wrap around one of the vehicons. The blue electric 'rope' wrapped around its head giving it a shock before he yanked it and sent the Con to the ground. Then beside him, the wrecker leader reached the ground, slamming his hammer into the nearest trooper, crushing it beyond repair.

Back in the trees, Arcee motioned to her team, "Alright. Go time. Roll out!"

Bumblebee and Smokescreen took the lead, charging forward, shooting as they went. Behind them, Arcee and Violetwind went in. The two wheeler used a blue laser to cut through the vehicons with ease. Violetwind on the other hand, glanced down at the bomb clasped tightly in her fingers in a moment of hesitation.

_This'll work, right?_

_Of course it will! Just fragging throw it!_

Letting out an uncertain vent she wound up for the toss and pelted it at the ground between several troopers. A plume of smoke when up and enveloped them. By the time it dissipated they were frozen in place.

Violetwind quickly readied herself to throw another while Bumblebee used his shield to protect her and Arcee from the volley of shots coming their way.

Smokescreen had no such trouble, already having turned on his phase shifter, allowing them to pass straight through his body. Running at one of the vehicons, he grabbed it and tumbled through a rock. Letting go once they were inside, he left the Decepticon trapped while he tumbled out.

Nearby Violetwind's second bomb went off, capturing two more vehicons in place. The final trooper fired fruitlessly at his enemies in his final moments before Optimus landed on him, joining the Bots at the bottom of the cliff.

The clearing became silent as the noise of battle subsided. With dust settling the Autobots gathered around the three enegon carts.

Picking up a blue shard, Smokescreen grinned, "Look at all that sweet fuel."

"We finally won't have to be rationing it so heavily," muttered Violetwind, running her fingers over the raw energy source.

_And Ratchet doesn't need to stress so much about finalising the Synth-En formula._

The two commanders joined them, Optimus promptly giving an order. "Stealth Team, transport our cargo back to base. Wreckers, reconnoitre the mine."

Smokescreen eagerly jumped forward, dancing lightly between his pedes. "I've always wanted to roll with the Wreckers." Realising how immature he looked, he quickly straightened up, clasping his hands behind his back. "Ah- Sir."

Considering the younger mech's request, Optimus believed it may do him good to go with them. With a nod he replied, "You may accompany the Wreckers, Smokescreen."

Bulkhead grinned and gave the blue mech a hard pat on the back. "Really think you're up for it?"

Recovering his balance from the hit, he turned to the green Bot. "You bet!"

_Hey, let's go too._

_What? Why?_ Violetwind's optics widened.

_You don't want to go back to base yet do you? We only just got out here._ Her inner companion whined.

_I donno..._ glancing at the ground, she could feel Windy pushing on her spark to go. _Fine..._

Moving forward, Violetwind looked up at Optimus to make her request, "Um, I'd like to go too, if I could. I'm still armed. And, I might be of some use in the confined space if the Cons are clustered together."

The large mech was surprised that she wanted to go. "Are you certain you desire to be involved? In all likelihood, there will be more conflict inside."

She nodded, taking a firm stance. "I do."


	9. Chapter 9

Long chapter today folks. Hope I did alright with it, I have mixed feelings about it. Anyway enjoy!

* * *

><p>Chapter 9<p>

The sound of pede steps echoed through the tunnel as the five Autobots searched for further signs of their enemies or much needed energon. Ultra Magnus led the way, his left blaster out as they continued forward, his senses alert for trouble. Behind him followed Smokescreen and Violetwind. The former had his own blasters out and at the ready, poised to attack if something suddenly appeared. The latter nervously kept close to her companions, a bomb clutched tightly in her hand like her life depended on it.

Trailing after them was Bulkhead. The mech continued to glance down at a scanner to detect any energon. However, he was confused; his scanner kept coming up empty. Wondering if the device was broken he gave it a tap muttering, "No energon signals..."

Taking up the rear, Wheeljack bent down to take a closer look at the ground adding, "And no additional security. Something doesn't smell right."

"I don't like it," grumbled Smokescreen as he glanced about.

"Me neither," Violetwind agreed. Silently she regretted having asked to come.

_Oh come on. Nothing's even happened yet. Stop being worried about nothing._

With only a small groan in response, the femme kept walking.

The group soon came to a fork in the tunnel.

"Um, which way, Sir?" The femme looked up at Ultra Magnus expectantly.

He glanced down at her briefly before turning his gaze to the others, pondering his decision. "Bulkhead, Smokescreen," he barked, "you will take the left. Wheeljack, Violetwind, you are with me."

The Bots nodded in acknowledgement and split off as instructed. Violetwind gave the other pair a worried glance whispering, "Be careful."

Continuing forward Ultra Magnus hoped he had done the right thing by splitting up the femme and the rookie. They somehow always ended up in trouble together and he only wished to prevent such a thing from reoccurring. Yet, Optimus had instructed him to be gentle with the pair. He reasoned within himself that it was because of their inexperience.

He did not have the chance to ponder it further as they came across a large cavern. Large tubes, twice as tall as Ultra Magnus, were filled with yellow liquid and ran down the centre of the room in two rows. Each of the tubes were connected to the others at the top, going down the row. The most extraordinary things about them, however, were their contents. Metallic beasts of all shapes and sizes floated within the yellow liquid.

Stepping forward Violetwind couldn't contain the fright quickening her spark. The giant creatures were like no normal beast on Earth. Some were like mythical creatures, some like griffins, some like rhinoceros beetles that had been hit with an enlarging beam or even some like large reptiles.

_Shockwave's lab..._ muttered Windy, her tone doing nothing to help the femme's unease

Wheeljack paused to stare at one of the beasts inside, "Well, this is one whole lotta ugly."

"Megatron's cloning operation seems further along than we anticipated," Ultra Magnus uttered with displeasure.

Staring up at one of the cloned Predacons, Violetwind felt a little ill. Just one Predacon was dangerous enough, but to have a small army of them... It was terrifying to even _think_ about.

_Shockwave... The slag filled vat of fragging slag. Tampering with nature again to fulfil his own twisted desires._

"And Megatron's," the femme added. "If he sends these out against us..."

_We'll be nothing but scrap metal._

At the other end of the row of tubes, the single opticked scientist turned from his computer console to notice the Autobot intruders the same instance they spotted him. Ultra Magnus and Wheeljack ducked behind the Predacon tubes, using them for cover as the fired upon the Decepticon. Not one to sit idly by as he was being attacked, Shockwave fired back.

A shot flew past Violetwind's helm causing her to let out a shriek. Jumping to the side, she hid behind a tube.

_Pull yourself together, Vi! We don't have time to freak out. Pay attention. I need you to throw a bomb at Shockwave. Think you can throw it that far?_

Peeking out, she judged the distance between herself and Shockwave, supposing it to be about two hundred metres, muttering nervously, "Mmm... I think so..."

Rolling the bomb around in her fingers, her door wings trembled as she considered the toss. Her main worry was that Ultra Magnus and Wheeljack were in front of her and if she did not throw it far enough they could get caught in the blast radius. She didn't want to immobilise her own team mates and be left to take on the Decepticon scientist alone.

_Throw it already!_ urged Windy.

Instead of throwing the bomb she jumped back from the large tube. The yellow liquid drained out the bottom and spilled onto the floor. Shockwave must have done something to cause it. Electricity sparked though the cables connecting them, stirring the beasts from their slumber.

Glancing back toward the Decepticon, the femme witnessed as he fired a few last shots at Ultra Magnus before disappearing into a ground bridge.

_Slag, this doesn't look good._

_Ya think? _

The three Autobots met in the aisle between the tubes. Their optics were filled with shock as the liquid flooded onto the floor; Violetwind's also wide in horror. Worse still was that some of the beasts were restless, screeching and banging against the glass, the noise unnerving the femme. With each crack they were closer to being free. And if they got free...

"Uh, guys..." she glanced over at the two mech's with worry.

Clenching his jaw Ultra Magnus took a fighting stance, ready to take on the Predacons when they emerged.

In contrast, Wheeljack did not seem to know what to think, glancing about with slight uncertainty, just trying to understand what was going on. Still he tried to offer the femme some comfort, "Don't worry, Vi. We'll make it out of this."

"Autobots, prepare for battle," ordered the commander.

The femme's door wings twitched in fear. If she had known that going out would lead to this, she would never have taken a single pede out of the hanger in the first place.

A nearby Predacon screeched hitting the glass tube causing a crack to appear. Any moment now it would break free and it, and the others like it, would surround them. As he glanced around for another way out, Wheeljack caught sight of glowing green energon crates stacked up at the back of the room. A smirk slipped onto his face as a plan fell into place. Unhooking the grenade from his waist, he tossed it in the air before catching it again. "Permission to employ a grenade in a confined space, Sir?"

Following the mech's gaze, Ultra Magnus nodded, "If we three are all that stands between these monsters and the natives of this planet; then by all means, blow these beasts back to the Rust Age."

Flipping the fuse on the explosive, he tossed it over to the crates, watching as it landed and rolled to rest beside them. Turning around he held out an arm to usher the femme along. "C'mon, we don't have time to sit around and greet these fellas."

Violetwind nodded, allowing herself to be hurried along.

The trio transformed, speeding out of the room. None of them was about to stick around to see the explosion for themselves.

The grenade's timer ticked down and in a flash it exploded, the noise rocking the caves. The Synthetic Energon caught alight adding to the fiery blast. The fire ball set off a chain reaction with the Predacons and the liquid they had been suspended in.

Engines revving as they fled the scene, the Autobots sped through the tunnels to get back to their team mates. However, their escape was brought to a halt as a ground bridge opened up in front of them. Transforming, they stood giving one another questioning glances. Each of them wondered the same thing; what was it doing there? They knew it could not be one of their own, no one had called.

They did not have long to ponder it. An unfamiliar mech, taller than Ultra Magnus, stepped out. His frame was dark with glowing yellow highlights.

"Who's this guy?" Wheeljack asked for them all.

The being responded with a deep resonating growl, "The very same who has previously allowed you to live, but will not today."

The commander's optics rested on the symbol marked on the mech's chest. "He's the Predacon."

"You didn't tell me they could transform!" Violetwind shrieked in panic.

"Don't look at me, I didn't know either," Wheeljack yelled back, not taking his optics off it.

By now the fireball from the explosion was spreading through the tunnels. The blast was headed their way, the noise alerting them to it's presence. The Bot's only had enough time to dive for cover as the explosion rolled through.

The Predacon was the only one who did not move.

The heat disappeared as quickly as it came and the Autobots picked themselves up. The femme glanced over at the Predacon to see a fury on his faceplates. He realised what the explosion meant and his anger took over. "What have you done to my brethren!?"

Violetwind could not contain the fear flowing through her circuits nor the violent trembling in her limbs as a result. He sounded ready to kill them and she rather wanted to avoid death.

_Slag. This can't be good._

Ultra Magnus and Wheeljack were much calmer than the femme. They had already fought the Predacon before, albeit he had fought as a beast and they had not won. But they were not about to let such a trivial matter stop them. They would fight with all they had. It was the Wrecker way.

The Predacon roared again. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!"

Without missing a beat, he charged towards the two mechs. They split off as the Predacon leapt into the air drawing his fist back. With an angry roar he slammed his hand into the ground as Violetwind scrambled off behind a rock in fear.

Turning to aim his blaster at the Predacon, Ultra Magnus was caught off guard as the beast struck his chest. He grunted as he was flung backward into a stalactite. Dust flung up around him as he crumpled to the ground.

Wheeljack was the next target and before he had the chance to respond, the beast was already picking him up by the shoulder. The mech only had time for an angry glare before he was thrown against the cave wall.

Peeling off the wall like paint, the mech hit the ground with a crash. Pain flashed through his circuits as he pushed himself off the floor to glare at the charging Predacon. "Well then, let's dance."

Slipping on a battle mask over this mouth, the white mech rolled out of the way just before the roaring Predacon slammed his fist into him. With practised ease he dodged each attack from the beast, waiting for the chance to retaliate.

Behind a rock, curled up into a ball, was Violetwind. Hugging her knees to her chest she softly whimpered to herself as her spark thundered like a herd of horses. Not only was the Predacon mech's size enough to instil fear into her spark, but the ferocity with which he attacked her team mates took away all sense of hope of beating him.

Hearing the harsh scraping of metal on metal, the femme uncurled herself and risked a peek over the top of the rock. Her gaze quickly landed on where Ultra Magnus and Wheeljack were taking on the beast.

_We have to slagging _do_ something!_

"But I can't use a bomb! They're too close. And I can't shoot either. My aim isn't good enough. I might _hit_ them." The urge to cry was overwhelming.

Windy mentally shook her, _Vi! We can't just sit here and do nothing!_

Slumping back down behind the rock, she lifted her hands to her audios, trying to block out the sounds of the battle, "I'm not built for this... I can't do this. Oh, why did I come? I should never have left the base. Why didn't I just stay with Ratchet?"

Her inner companion let out a deep groan of annoyance. Sometimes it felt like she had picked the worst possible person to share a body with. Doing her best to keep calm, she tried to speak with Violetwind again. _Listen, if you can pick up some of that courage I know you have, we can get in that battle and help them out. We outnumber the Predacon three to one. If we work together we should be able to handle ourselves. I promise I'll be with you the whole time and together we can do it. You just have to do as I tell you._

Venting heavily, Violetwind did her best to calm down. "Ok," her voice cracked but she tried again, "Ok. Courage."

_That's it,_ coached Windy, _You can do this. Hey, you took on Knock Out by yourself and before that you had the guts to walk into the Decepticon's base alone._

"Ok, I can do this..." Peaking over the rock she caught sight of the battle. Her optics widened and she froze.

Lying away from the battle was Ultra Magnus, having been knocked back and left dazed. This left Wheeljack to fight on his own and to say he was losing would be an understatement. Violetwind's spark leapt into her throat as she witnessed the beast hit him again and again. Punch after punch slammed against the mech's chest, Violetwind's door wings quivering with each strike.

Her chest tightened with fear. She had to do something. He would die out there unless the Predacon was stopped.

Then all of a sudden her fear vanished, like the flipping of a switch. Replacing it was an odd cold fury. She did not even have the time to comprehend the sudden change before she was leaping onto the rock she had been hiding behind. Optics narrowed she stared down the beast. "Hey. Predacon!"

His head shot up, surprised by the shout.

"Why don't you try taking on me? Unless you're a worthless piece of slag like those protoforms we just blew up!"

Letting loose a deep growl he left the white mech and started towards her. "You dare insult me? Predaking? And then you further insult my brethren after you destroyed them?! You will pay for your insolence, little AUTOBOT!"

"I'll believe that when I see it," she sneered. "And Predaking? Really? _That's_ your name? It's _so_ original."

This only served to infuriate him even more. Letting loose a roar he charged forward.

_Vi, jump._

Moving to within striking range he swung his claws at her but the femme leaped upward, flipping over him in a smooth arc. Landing in a crouch behind him, she smirked.

The Predacon grunted as he whirled around, ready to tear her apart. He stepped forward claws outstretched but without even turning to face him she dodged to the side. Once again his attack missed.

_Right, now let's get on the offensive._

"You got it."

Turning to face him she unsheathed her blades. Within seconds she closed the distance between them and slashed at his chest only to dart away and attack again from another angle at Windy's guidance. Each time he tried to grab her she was already gone and scratching at him in another place. However, it did little damage to his heavy armour, only serving to annoy the Predacon.

Violetwind kept him busy while her fellow Autobots recovered. Ultra Magnus was the first to recuperate. Sitting up he watched the small femme dart around attacking the beast. He was surprised by the ferocity she displayed, something he hadn't seen in her before. Getting up he charged forward, swinging his hammer at Predaking's face.

Soon after Wheeljack also picked himself up and joined in the fight with his own ninja kicks. Together the three of them were able to dominate the Predacon, too dazed from so many hits to be able to defend himself and fight back.

A particularly hard hit from Ultra Magnus sent the beast flying. Glancing upward, Wheeljack noticed a huge stalactite directly above the Predacon as he lay dazed from his beating. Transforming his servo the white mech stated to fire at the roof where the large chunk of rock was attached.

It didn't take long for Ultra Magnus and Violetwind to work out what he was planning and once they did, they took out their blasters to shoot the roof as well. Predaking started to stand up but just as he did so, the stalactite broke off and crashed down upon him.

With a smug grin the femme transformed her blasters back into hands as Wheeljack came over to her and the commander. "Guess we really got him that time."

However, she had spoken too soon. The massive rock shifted. Possessing an incredible strength, Predaking picked up the stalactite. He swung it around, the rock coming towards them. Three sets of blue optics widened as they tried to run but they were unable to escape. The trio were scooped up they the rock, hitting them away like they were baseballs and it was the bat.

Still using it as a weapon, the beast charged at Wheeljack. Catching the mech before he had recovered, the Predacon used the stalactite to ram him into the side of the cave. It hit the Wrecker with such a force that the rock itself crumbled around his unconscious body.

Groaning, Violetwind rolled over onto her back resting a hand over her stomach plates. She closed her optics letting her helm stop ringing from hitting the cave wall. Inside her helm, her mind also calmed. The uncontrollable fury died down as her thoughts became her own again.

A deep pained cry rang out and immediately her own discomfort was forgotten. Rolling over she was quickly on her knees staring over at Ultra Magnus with horror. Predaking was just lifting his pede from on top of the commander's hand. Mercilessly he slammed it back down earning an even more pained cry from the Autobot. Energon leaked from the stub, his hand completely crushed and fingers so broken they fell off.

Pulling his arm back, Ultra Magnus cradled it to his chest with his good arm and rolled onto his back.

"Ultra Magnus!" The femme cried out, scurrying to get to her pedes.

The mech just painfully groaned while Predaking walked away. Taking a few deep breaths into his vents, he rolled back over to glance at Wheeljack and Violetwind.

Waking, the Wrecker let out a groan as he looked back over at the mech. He knew things were not in their favour. With a weak grin he spoke, "And here I was, just beginning, to tolerate you."

With a slight grin, the commander replied, "It's been an honour serving beside you, soldiers."

"Noo!" Violetwind cried out in denial. This wasn't about to happen. Tears flowed from her optics as she dropped to her knees. Her confidence and fury were gone, leaving her in a state much like the one before joining the fight, only even more hopeless.

The beast picked up the powerless Forge of Solus Prime and came back to stand over the commander. Lifting it high he snapped the weapon in half, golden dust floating to the ground as the once magnificent artifact of the Primes was destroyed.

Dropping it in front of Ultra Magnus, Predaking lifted a clawed hand above his head, ready to strike him down. With a scowl he rumbled, "Prepare to Perish."

Weeping Violetwind turned her face away, burying her head in her hands. She could not bear to watch as the Predacon prepared to kill the mech.

Windy was silent, having no smart alack responses or sarcastic remarks. Even she was too distressed about everything that had happened. She simply shared in the confusion and sadness of her companion.

Just as Predaking was bringing his arm down for the final blow, he took a shoulder to the chest. The scraping noise alerted Violetwind that the execution had been diverted. The femme lifted her head towards the commotion, optics lighting up with hope. Where the beast had previously stood, was instead Optimus Prime.

Taking out his machine gun, Optimus started shooting up the rocks and stalactites around the Predacon on the other side of the cave. Each shot broke of another piece of rock. The rubble crashed down upon Predaking, trapping him underneath.

Having taken care of the beast for the moment, the Autobot leader went over to Ultra Magnus. Leaning over, he placed a hand on the commander, optics resting on the stub where the mech's hand should have been.

"I am fine. The others..." he croaked.

Optimus glanced over at where Wheeljack lay. "Do not worry. I will be collecting them also."

Standing up, he walked over to the Wrecker and proceeded dig him out of the rocks.

Picking herself up, Violetwind wearily walked over to Ultra Magnus. Reachign his side she knelt down to get a better look at his injury, her spark clenching in sympathy. Dropping her helm she whispered, "I'm sorry, Ultra Magnus..."

"You fought well out there. Once you got began..." He looked up at her with a slight smile.

A funny feeling lurked in the pit of her tanks not letting her accept the compliment. She remembered the fight, perhaps a bit too clearly. Yet, it did not sit right with her. The fury she felt during it... It frightened her.

The femme was not given more time to ponder it further as Optimus returned carrying Wheeljack under one arm. "Violetwind, I regret to ask this of you but-"

She held up a hand interrupting him, "It's fine I can drive outta here. These two need the help more than me."

A slight look of surprise shone from his optics before disappearing, replaced by care. "That is not what I intended to ask. I was to suggest you cling to my neck as I regrettably do not possess a spare hand to aid you."

"Oh... Well, um, I guess that could work too," she replied with embarrassment.

Collecting Ultra Magnus with his free arm, Optimus bent down so that the shorter femme could reach him. She moved forward hesitantly, not sure about being so close to the leader. With some nervousness, she stood on the tips of her pedes to wrap her arms around Optimus' neck. Her face plates flushed with heat as she curled her fingers tightly around her own arms.

"Are you ready?" She felt the mech's deep voice reverberate through his chest.

"Y-yes..."

Optimus hid a smile of amusement under his mask. He knew it was not the exit she had imagined but he had no desire to leave her behind. The Predacon would no doubt be waking soon and more infuriated than before. So, in order to know that she was safe, they would have to endure the closeness for a little while. It briefly made him wonder if she would be as nervous as she was if, instead of himself, it was another young mech.

Nevertheless he prepared his jets for take off. However, as he was about to do so, the beast burst from the rocks, sending debris flying around him. Optimus and Violetwind looked over at Predaking, the former taking it as their cue to leave.

Firing up his jets, he lifted off into the air and towards the cave's exit.

Seeing him leave and taking away those who murdered his brethren, Predaking called out, "What?! Noo!" Shoving away the remaining rubble, he gave chase.

Flying out of the cave, Optimus immediately commed base. "Ratchet, we require a ground bridge."

Leaving the cave behind them was the Predacon. Seeing them fly up, he ran out and leapt into the air to transform. With wings outstretched, he gave a strong beat to keep himself aloft and let out a screech. He was not about to let the Autobots escape.

Clinging onto Optimus' neck, hanging far above the ground, Violetwind vented heavily as she heard the beast screech again. Her carrier on the other hand, remained calm. Optimus waited patiently for their medic to come through, he always did.

The familiar noise of the ground bridge signalled its opening up ahead. The femme let out a breath as they entered the vortex, leaving Predaking behind.

Finding themselves within the base, the mech carefully landed as the other Autobots gathered around with concerned optics. Before Optimus had the chance to bend down and let her off more easily, Violetwind let go and dropped to the ground. She landed heavily, almost falling over in the process but with arms splayed for balance, managed to stay upright.

Steadying herself she looked up at the mech. "Thank you..."

He nodded and once she moved off he walked over to carefully deposit Wheeljack and Ultra Magnus where Ratchet had set up his medical bay.

The emergency vehicle immediately got to work on the unconscious commander's hand, or lack there of.

Violetwind stood back as everyone's attention was on Ultra Magnus and questioning what had become of his hand. Rubbing her arm she let her helm drop, overcome with exhaustion. All of a sudden a hand rested on her shoulder, causing the femme to jump back, flaring her door wings.

A light laugh came from the hand's owner. "It's ok, Vi. It's just me."

"Smokescreen, don't do that," she scolded, her door wings relaxing.

He gave a cheeky smile in return. "Just wanted to see how you were. What happened in there?"

Taking a deep intake of air, she recalled the events within the cave. "We found Shockwave's lab, where he was growing the Predacon clones. Then, Wheeljack blew it up. We were escaping and that dragon guy showed up only he wasn't a dragon. He was in a bot form. Predacons can transform, Smoke! Um, and well, then we had to fight him off. He was kinda mad about us blowing up the other Predacons..."

Smokescreen threw his head back and bellyached. "How come you guys got all the excitement?"

The femme gave a shudder, "Next time you take it then. I do _not_ like it."

"Oh, I didn't-"

She put up a hand to stop him. "Don't worry about it. I didn't come out as hurt as I could have. Ultra Magnus and Wheeljack got it worse than me. I just wish I could have done more to help..."

The mech looked at her with soft optics, resting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure your being there was enough."

Staring at her pedes, Violetwind frowned. "I don't know, Smoke... Something... Something was odd..."

Wrapping her arms around herself, the femme wandered over to where the others had collected near the medical bay. They stood around but left enough distance for Ratchet to not be crowded.

This left Smokescreen staring after her with some concern, not quiet sure what she was going on about.

By now Wheeljack was sitting up, resting against the raised area without a railing. He was leaking some energon but it was not too serious so he let Ratchet work on Ultra Magnus without protesting. He didn't like being fussed over anyway.

The medic was currently welding a band of metal onto the end of the commander's stub to stop the enegon from leaking. The mech had fallen unconscious during the trip back to base and was just waking. As Ratchet finished with the wound, he lifted it to get a better look at it. Where his fingers had once been there was now nothing but crushed metal. The loss of his hand slowly sunk in and he let out a sad groan.

Standing nearby, Optimus gazed over at him with a comfort. "Ratchet will take good care of you."

"Magnus fought like a wrecker," Wheeljack praised the mech, "Violet too."

The femme's face plates flushed in embarrassment. That was a fight she would much rather forget. The emotions that fuelled her actions frightened her. Not even Windy had an answer for them.

Attention was drawn back to Ultra Magnus as he spoke, "Optimus. When we spoke earlier... What could be greater than a army?"

Only too willing to share, Optimus replied softly, "A human concept, one I have learned since coming to Earth," he paused for a moment optics resting on the wounded mech before turning his head to gaze upon the other Autobots, "Family."

With smiles, everyone moved in, gathering closer around where Ultra Magnus lay. He stared back, curious about this 'family' yet also feeling more accepted in that moment than he had since arriving on this planet. He allowed a small smile to lift his mouth as he received this concept of family into his mind and perhaps his spark.

Looking about her, Violetwind smiled a little too. Optimus was right, they _were_ like a family. Everyone cared about everyone else. Even though she may have lost the ability to be with her own family, she was glad to be a part of this one.

_I'm family too right?_

_Of course silly. Very close family. _

_Good. _Windy gave off a pleasant feeling of happiness.

_Perhaps like the crazy Aunt._

_Hey! _

Beside her, Smokescreen gave her a playful nudge with his elbow. A cheeky look shone from his optics.

The femme grinned back, giving him a shove with her own elbow in return.

Windy chuckled, _Guess it's better than being the rowdy kids._

_Hey!_


	10. Chapter 10

Hey guys! Another chapter for you. And also, guess what. Next week is Christmas! So Merry Christmas everyone! Or Happy Holidays I guess if don't celebrate it. Have fun over the time off guys! :D

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><p>Chapter 10<p>

In the time after their arrival back at the base, Violetwind had been kept herself busy. Ratchet used the time to teach her about medical matters as she aided him in fixing up Ultra Magnus and Wheeljack. She was a surprisingly quick learner in such things, finding it far more interesting than the Synthetic Energon and chemicals he had been teaching her. Though, Most of the time she still couldn't help but think of it more as mechanics than biology.

The next day Violetwind sat on the floor next to Ratchet's bench of odds and ends. She worked on another immobiliser bomb to add to her supply after using some on the vehicons yesterday.

Beside her Ratchet also had his hands full with a project. While the commander rested, the medic set about constructing a makeshift hand for him. He hoped the new appendage would help compensate for the loss of his hand in some way, though he was unsure of just how useful it would be.

The femme hummed as she tinkered with the small metal pieces. Jack had said the kids were going to bring back some movies with them when they returned from the time with their parents and she and Windy pondered what they might be.

_I hope we get an action movie. Something like _The Avengers_ would be great._

_Nah, I'm hoping for a romantic comedy. Maybe _The Proposal_ I have a feeling I've seen that before. _

_Yeah, yeah, you have,_ she muttered off handedly. _But really, an action movie would be better. Besides I really don't think the kids will bring back a rom com._

_Hmm, perhaps you're right. I may have to make a request... _

Finishing work on Ultra Magnus' new attachment Ratchet glanced down at the femme beside him. He was glad she seemed happier than before and not just because she was easier to work with. It eased his fears over her processor a little. He still wished he could give her a better check over but contented himself with merely keeping an optic on her.

"Violetwind," he stood, holding up the makeshift appendage, "it's time to attach Ultra Magnus' new hand."

Looking up from her task she briefly studied the object. It consisted of three 'fingers.' Two faced one direction while the third sat in the middle of the other two facing the opposite way in order to allow the mech to grab objects. Staring at it more closely she could see some parts that were sure to glow energon blue once attached to Ultra Magnus, though she was unsure of their purpose.

Nodding she got to her pedes, placing the unfinished bomb down carefully. "Ok, I'm ready."

Walking over to where Ultra Magnus lay, they found Optimus standing by the mech's berth. He had remained by the commander's side, willing to help his old friend through the recovery.

"We're ready to attach your new limb, Ultra Magnus. It should not take long but we shall put you in recharge, just to prevent any discomfort," Ratchet explained.

"Of course, Doctor," the mech replied, with a nod.

"We'll take good care of you, Sir," Violetwind added with a comforting smile. Though she was still inexperienced in Cybertronian medical matters, she had the utmost faith in Ratchet and his ability. She was mostly just there to observe, learn and help with the little things.

"And I will remain nearby as well," Optimus told the wounded mech.

"Violetwind, administer the sedative,"commanded Ratchet.

Grabbing the medication, the femme filled a syringe. Ratchet had taught her how to anaesthetise someone. Though she was still a little nervous and hoped she would not so something stupid during the procedure. The medic was watching her carefully to make sure she did it correctly, so she need not worry too much. He was there to take it from her if she did something wrong.

Taking a slow intake of air she lowered the point of the needle between the plating of Ultra Magnus' good arm and into his enegon fuel lines.

Immediately the mech began to feel the effects of the drug. He began to feel sleepy and his limbs lost their ability to function. He also felt the need to confess something. With unfocused optics he tried to look upon the femme. "Violetwind..." His speech was slow. "I... Wanted to... Apologise..."

"Sir, I don't th-" she protested slightly before he went on, not paying her words any attention.

"I... Was always... skeptical about, you... you and Smokescreen... Just both... So inexperienced... But this... This family that... Optimus speaks of... you... Being a native of this planet... You understand this... Much... Much better than I... Please... Forgive me... For thinking... You were merely... A liability... A rebellious youngling... With only your own... Your own interests... In mind... You have proved... That wrong... Your courage against the Predacon... And now your care... Forgive me... For... Misjudging you..." He trailed off, falling to recharge.

Not sure what to think, Violetwind looked over at Optimus and Ratchet for answers. She was shocked at Ultra Magnus' odd confession.

_What the slag? I always knew he was a bit off about us but this? That was unexpected..._

The leader's optics shone with a gentle smile. His commanding officer was learning and allowing his spark to accept the others as more than just fighting companions. Looking to the femme he explained, "Violetwind, Ultra Magnus is merely learning to accept that he may have been misguided in judging you for your incident with Smokescreen and the enegon crates."

"Oh... You know about that..."

He smiled, "Yes, but do not concern yourself over it. It is not of importance."

Ratchet had been a little shocked at Ultra Magnus as well. But after Optimus was finished he nodded and shook off the feeling. Knowing they had work to do he readied himself to begin he procedure. "We must hurry to attach Magnus' new limb before he wakes."

So without wasting another moment the medic got to work. As he went he directed Violetwind to aid him and talked her through what he was doing to teach her more about Cybertronian biology.

After almost two hours had gone by, Ratchet was just finishing the last weld. During this time, the children had arrived back at the hanger. They had been filled in on what had taken place and now stood watching the two bots attach Ultra Magnus' replacement appendage.

The rest of the team also stood around in anticipation, waiting for the operation to be completed. Smokescreen and Bumblebee conversed in low tones, while Bulkhead stood close to the railing where the humans watched. Arcee leant against the lower platform beside Wheeljack, sitting directly opposite of where they were working on Ultra Magnus.

Standing by for support, Optimus had remained close for the entire procedure. It was as much for their support as his own peace of mind. Seeing one of those under his command be injured in such a way always struck at his spark.

"He'll be waking soon," Violetwind muttered under her breath, keeping a optic on the patient's vital signs.

Luckily though, Ratchet had just finished. Turning to Optimus he kept his voice down. "I've done everything I can considering the limitations of my equipment and less than ideal spare parts." He glanced back at the commander's new 'hand' with uncertainty, "It remains uncertain if Ultra Magnus' new appendage will be fit for battle, though it should prove functional." He returned his gaze to Optimus, "After the requisite amount of therapy."

Relief found its way into the leader's optics. "That is all we can hope for, old friend."

With a nod to both Ratchet and Optimus, Violetwind left the sleeping mech to wake under their watch. After what he had said before falling unconscious, she did not want to be there when he awoke, whether he remembered it or not.

Arcee glanced at the mech beside her, neither having moved since the surgery began, "You doing ok?"

Lowered his hand from where he'd been rubbing his left elbow, Wheeljack looked sadly down at his fists as he clenched and unclenched them. "I'm still two fisted."

Resting a hand on him, the femme replied, "So's Magnus."

Turning around and allowing room for Violetwind to stand next to him and Bumblebee, Smokescreen grinned. "Wait and see. The claw's gonna become his signature move. You know," he gestured to the scout, "the way you own that voice box Ratchet slapped in your throat."

_'What?!'_ he beeped in surprise before his optics narrowed.

Violetwind elbowed the blue mech whispering, "Rude."

Trying to fix it, he moved closer and rattled on, "I mean, everyone understands you fine. Why would you even consider getting it fixed now?"

The purple femme inwardly groaned as Smokescreen dug a bigger hole for himself.

_He sure is a smooth talker,_ Windy chuckled.

Grumbling Bumblebee turned away from the mech, _'Just shut it.'_ He raised the back of his fist to the rookie's surprised face. With a huff like whirr he stalked off past Bulkhead, _'Voicebox, huh? 'Everyone understands you just fine! Don't bother getting it fixed?! I'd rather have my own voice!' _

Smokescreen's gaze lowered in guilt, leaving the annoyed mech to walk off without protest. He did not dare try to stay anything else, he had already done enough.

"Woah," Miko stared after the scout, "what'd he say?"

Omitting his annoyed repeating of Smokescreen's words, Rafael translated, "Bee's kinda still attached to the sound of his own voice. His original one."

Putting on a smile, Bulkhead tried to lighten the heavy air that had fallen, "Hey, look on the bright side. Commander Magnus, Jacky and Violet single-handedly put the kibosh on Project Predacon!"

Walking up from behind, Smokescreen and Violetwind, Optimus joined them, "Though, at least one beast that we know of remains. The one who has demonstrated the ability to transform..."

"Predaking..." The purple femme breathed.

"Indeed."

~oOo~

Soon after his operation had ended Ultra Magnus woke. He was implored by Ratchet to continue to rest and not try to use his new appendage for a while. Therapy was to begin the next day, once his circuits had adjusted to the new connections.

The night passed and before long the morning was upon Team Prime. Optimus sent out Arcee and Bumblebee on patrol at first light. Although the Decepticons were unlikely to be scavenging for more Predacon bones, they still needed to be vigilant.

Not only that but any energon they could find would be of great value. The carts they had claimed from their enemies would not last forever and Ratchet had already gone back to working on the formula for Synthetic Energon.

This left Violetwind to help Ultra Magnus to use his new hand, the femme coaching him and lending him encouragement along the way. "That's it Ultra Magnus, Sir. Just take it slow and focus on wanting your hand to close."

The mech struggled to get his new appendage to respond. His limb shook as he willed his servos to close only for them to move a fraction of a centimetre. He let out a huff, dropping his arm to the berth, muttering in discouragement, "This is not going smoothly."

Standing beside him, Violetwind looked at the commander with compassion. He was really struggling, physically and emotionally. The femme knew he was suffering from the loss of his pride. Being stripped of the being able to simply just close one's hand would hurt anyone but it also had the secondary effect of taking the commander out of the battle. This, more than anything, was what Violetwind felt he was finding hardest to deal with.

With a gentle smile she spoke, "We've only just begun, Sir. You can't give up. Ratchet said that you have to keep exercising it. It's the only way you'll get it to work."

He glanced over at her, silent for a moment before replying, "I am unsure this will ever function."

A loud yell drew their attention towards Miko and Bulkhead. The pair were watching some footage of a monster truck rally they went to last year. Having recently found the file in her internet storage, Miko had insisted upon putting it on. So the two of them loudly watched what Ratchet referred to as 'blood sport,' cheering about the more spectacular crashes.

Returning her focus back to the mech, she just looked at him as he gazed towards the girl and mech watching the rally. Her spark stirred as she realised he was still learning to understand the concept of family.

_You just gonna stand there and stare at him then, or are you gonna do something? Wouldn't want anyone thinking you had a crush on him now, would we?_ Windy teased.

A small flush of heat flowed over her faceplates, in embarrassment as she quickly dropped her optics to her pedes. _How could you suggest such a thing?!_

Windy chuckled, _Because you're so easy to mess with. Besides, I'm pretty sure you actually have feelings for someone else..._

_Windy, what are you talking about? Feelings for someone? _

Her inner companion just laughed some more.

With a small huff she shook her head. _Well, glad you're having fun..._

Shaking her head she cleared her vocalisers to gain her patient's attention once again. "Sir, please keep trying. It might seem tough now but you're a strong willed mech. You can do this. You wouldn't be here now if you weren't."

With a silent nod, Ultra Magnus went back to putting his effort into making his hand move.

Nearby Agent Fowler stalked out of his office after having received a phone call. "Prime!" he yelled, "We have trouble brewing."

Optimus walked over to stand by the walkway.

The man continued, "The Cons staged a smash and grab at the Los Alamos nuclear plant late last night ans made off with twenty tons of control rods."

The Autobot leader frowned. It never meant anything good when their enemies went about stealing from the humans. His tone sombre, the mech asked, "What are the Decepticons looking to build?"

Inclining her head in curiosity, Violetwind also wondered what they were doing.

_What would they need with so much power?_

_I don't know, but I'm sure nothing good can come from it..._

~oOo~

Later that day Violetwind was excitedly standing beside the platform where Rafael sat with his laptop.

"What's it say? What's it say?" she asked the boy, dancing lightly on her pedes.

The femme had received another email from her parents and was anxious to find out their reply.

With a smile, Raf opened it up, spinning the computer around so she could see the screen. Quickly she scanned the message, soaking up the news from her folks.

"So how're your parents doing," Jack walked up, looking between the pair.

Violetwind grinned, "They're doing fine. They've taken care of all my old stuff for me. I guess it's not like I'll ever need it again really. But they've got it now and it's better than letting it be sold off for not paying the rent."

"Have you told them about us?"

"Well, I've only really said I've been making friends among my work colleagues... Maybe I _should_ tell them about three awesome kids that help out..." she pretended to ponder it.

"We _are_ pretty awesome!" Miko jumped in and wrapped an arm around Jack's shoulder, startling the boy.

Chuckling the femme nodded, "I'm sure it couldn't hurt to mention you guys."

"Hey, don't forget to tell them how helpful I was with the Apex Armor!"

"Miko, she can't mention the armour. No details remember," Jack chided her, earning him a frowns from the girl.

"Jack's right," Raf added, "Agent Fowler doesn't want anything getting out."

Pouting, Miko grumbled, "Fine. Just make sure you don't give them the wrong impression of me."

"Of course not, Miko. I'd never dare do such a thing," the femme replied innocently.

Feeling her inner companion cheekily grinned, Windy whispered, _I would..._

A little later Violetwind and Rafael had an appropriate message typed up to be approved by Agent Fowler before being sent to her parents. Just to check it one last time, the femme reread the email.

_Dear Mum and Dad, glad you were able to get my stuff together. The money from the furniture you sell is yours to keep. I don't need it where I am, no shops and all and besides we have all we need.  
>I've been meaning to tell you about three kids that have been helping us out, two boys and a girl. I say kids but they're really in their teens. They've been really brilliant, brave and eager to help out where they can. Perhaps at times the girl can be a bit reckless but she's more courageous than a lot of people would be given the same situations. I admire her for that not being the bravest person myself. The older boy cares greatly for his younger cohorts. I know he'd do anything for them. I think he'll grow up to be a great leader one day. The youngest of the trio is a tech wiz. He's the one helping me get my emails out to you. I don't know what we would do without his knowledge. <em>

The femme grinned as she recalled Rafael's face as she told him to write that. He had looked adorable as he blushed at the complement. She continued to read the rest of the email.

_I have some more news of a more tragic nature. One of the group's leader's lost his hand recently. It was crushed by a beast. He should recover just fine but it reminds us that our work is dangerous and to be vigilant as we go about it. Please don't take this as a message to worry about me though. I don't usually go about interacting with the more dangerous animals and I have some good people around me to help keep me safe.  
>Hope to hear from you again soon.<br>Love you guys. Victoria. _

"It's fine. Thanks, Raf," she told the boy, "You can send it to Agent Fowler now. Hopefully it won't be long before he checks it once he returns from wherever it was he went."

"Sure thing," the boy replied before his stomach made a small rumble, "I wish he'd bring back a pizza..."

Violetwind smiled, "Shame they don't deliver to military bases. Guess I'd better leave you to get a snack then."

Slipping off the chair, Rafael grinned, "I think I'll head over to the mess hall and see what they've go to eat. See you later, Violet."

"Bye, Raf," she waved as the boy trotted off.

Turning around, the femme began to wonder if there was anything decent on TV when a call came through the base's comm link.

::Prime!:: Agent Fowler's voice called out. ::It's Cons again. In progress this time.::

_Slagging Cons. Can't they just leave things alone for once._

The Bots gathered, ready to leave, Ratchet standing by the ground bridge controls.

"Coordinates received, Agent Fowler," the medic returned, opening the ground bridge.

Walking forward Ultra Magnus was ready to go. Without glancing at the others he yelled, "Let's roll!"

Ratchet put out a hand to stop the taller mech. "Ip ip. Your ability to roll remains predicated upon further exploration of your manual dexterity."

The medic placed his hands on his hips as Ultra Magnus lifted his claw to look upon it. He struggled to close the appendage even a little, the determination fading from his optics to be replaced by sadness.

Optimus gazed upon the commander with sympathy. He felt for the mech but Ratchet had a point, he was not battle ready. "I'm afraid that Ratchet's authority supersedes my own in medical matters."

With a solemn sigh, he dropped his head. "Understood."

Walking towards the ground bridge, Optimus left him, though not alone. Wheeljack watched Ultra Magnus, his optics shining with rare compassion for the mech. The incident in the cave with the Predacon had allowed him to earn respect in the Wrecker's optics. Slowly he trailed after the others hoping that he would be able to do something for the mech in the future.

The ground bridge closed and Ultra Magnus walked off, a pair of optics following his movements. In her spark, Violetwind knew she had to help him. He was struggling not just physically but emotionally. Optimus had been right when he had called Team Prime a family and she knew that Ultra Magnus had the right to feel like a part of it too.

Finally she decided to stop standing there and do something, moving over to his side. "Ultra Magnus, Sir? Is there anything I can do to help you?"

Glancing over at her in surprise, it took him a moment to answer. "No. I am fine. But thank you, Violetwind, for the offer."

"Are you sure, Sir? I don't mind helping talk you through working with your knew hand." she replied, door wings perked in expectation.

Her offer was warm, full of care and compassion. It was unlike the treatment he was used to receiving or even showing. This femme always seemed to amaze him, whether she was getting into trouble or showing kindness to her fellow Bots or humans.

"If you're really willing to help, then perhaps I shall accept," he replied, his tone soft.

Smiling up at him she immediately started to coach him again. As she lent him aid, the femme could see that he was learning more about the concept of family and perhaps gaining an greater understanding of just how they were more powerful than an army like Optimus had told him.

This went on for a while before they were interrupted by a call from Optimus. All attention turned towards the main console as the Prime's voice came through.

**::**Ratchet, reopen the ground bridge but ensure that the humans are kept at a safe distance. For we will be returning with a Decepticon prisoner.**::**

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><p>I bet you can all guess who that prisoner is. :P<br>(If you can't, shame on you. Go back and watch all of Transformers Prime again. Or just watch S3 E10 _Minus One_.)


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